Trembling Ice
by Sex-a-licious Usagi
Summary: Allen moves to Canada from England, to team up with other professional figure skaters. Lavi plays ice hockey and takes interest in Allen's behavior and lies. Both boys soon realize that their bonds are getting tighter week by week. Purely LAVEN.
1. What are you hiding?

"GOAAAAAL!" a red-haired hockey player yelled with so much power that half of the people on rink had to put hands over their ears. Lavi Bookman, the captain of Delta Pirates looked around with a goofy grin on his face. He skated away from his teammates, who looked at him with respect. He had been the captain of Delta Pirates ever since he turned 16 years old. That makes it four years now, on row. Another respected player, Kanda Yuu, skated after him while whacking his back with a hockey stick.

"You stupid rabbit," Kanda growled under his breath. "You're lucky to still have your tongue attached. You're way too loud!"

Lavi blinked few times and he sat on a bench, behind boards. He took a sip from his water bottle after taking of his helmet. "Yuu-chan, you're being too stiff nowadays. You should find yourself a girl and get some! You'd be more relaxed in a whim."

Kanda remained to keep his pokerface as he watched other players on ice. Lavi was just too dumb and he was always thinking with his all and mighty sword of glory. "That guy sucks," Kanda said as he stared at the new guy who had trouble even skating around the ice. He really needed some cold-hearted training. "Why did he even attend our team... fucking idiot."

"Krory, huh?" Lavi smiled with amusement. He also glanced at the tall man who had the looks of a vampire. "He just needs some training, that's all."

Lavi and Kanda sat in silence, listening as their coach kept rambling about importance of rules in this indoor ice rink. It was one of the biggest in Canada and they just couldn't afford to have new players mess around the place and teasing other teams, and figure skaters.

After the training hours were over for now, Lavi and Kanda made their way to the changing rooms. Both of the men were in the shower when Lavi finally opened his mouth. "Are we going to pick up Lenalee too?" Lavi asked curiously from Kanda.

Kanda glanced Lavi over his shoulder and nodded. Lenalee Lee and Kanda had been childhood friends for a long time and all three of them lived in the same neighbourhood. "Lenalee is going to stay longer today though," Kanda said annoyed, "she got a new figure skater who just moved here from London."

"Is that so? More hot babes, huh..." Lavi grinned as he dried himself into his towel. Man. He always liked to stay and watch girls on ice. Not that he really liked the guys who act like gay while dancing there. Lavi was kind of surprised by the fact that Kanda had actually paid attention to Lenalee's talks about a new girl on the national team.

"Actually... That hot babe is a boy," voice said behind them and they turned to look at the new player, who had a wide grin on his face. Daisya Barry had been here for a week now and had kind of a cocky attitude towards his seniors. Lavi liked Daisya, but no one, no one will interrupt his thoughts about hot and cute females.

Lavi clicked his tongue and swung his small bag onto his shoulder. "You saw him?" he smirked.

"Yeah... He looked like a freak though," Daisya commented, furrowing his eyebrows. "I only saw him from afar though."

Kanda collected his stuff when he was finished with his hair and motioned Lavi to just follow him. "See ya tomorrow Daisya!" Lavi yelled from the corridor. Freak? That'd be very interesting. Lavi always had a habit to pick on males who were figure skating. It was for ladies, not for boys.

As the two boys got to the rink next to their own bigger rink, they already saw an unknown figure practicing on the ice. There was two girls and one guy sitting two rows behind them as they found their own regular seats. Lavi smirked but didn't say a word to Kanda yet. Mainly because Kanda got to say it first.

"He really looks freaky, not to mention gay."

Lavi bursted out laughing at Kanda's statement. "You got that right, Yuu~"

Lenalee Lee was standing behind the board and eyeing the new skater on ice. Everything she had been told about Allen Walker, was true. He was a true angel on ice, a prodigy. Lenalee glanced at the older Bookman, Tyki Mikk and Anita. "What do you think?" Lenalee asked from three coaches. Older Bookman was mainly retired hockey player but he had always had an eye for figure skaters. Bookman was also known for coaching Lavi ever since the boy was able to walk and hold a hockey stick.

Tyki Mikk was a professional figure skater in Canada, but known for his bad past. He had been dealing some weird stuff from place to another and Lenalee still suspected him to have some shady business going on. Especially with young boys.

Anita, the main coach and professional skater smiled gently at Lenalee.

"I think he had the talent ever since he was able to walk," Anita said as she turned her eyes back to Allen. "I'm glad he decided to come to Canada. We need skaters like him."

"Look at that triple lutz," Tyki smirked and leaned against the boards. He had always been interested younger males, and Allen was just the one for him to lure. 18-years old boy who had looks of an angel was something he couldn't forget easily. If he was able to skate that beautifully, Tyki wasn't sure if he'll be able to keep his fingers away from him long.

"Allen!" Lenalee squealed after that jump and skated towards him. "That was amazing! You're younger than me and you can do triple lutz so perfectly, not a single flaw in there," she complimented and shook his hand. "I'm Lenalee Lee, we were talking on the phone yesterday. You arrived today morning, am I right?"

Allen jumped a little when he suddenly had a girl fawning over him. He put on his nicest smile and shook Lenalee's hand. "Yes, Ms. Lee. I'm very pleased to be here. Still, this place is so much bigger than I imagined. London's ice rinks are so much smaller."

"I can show you around if you want, boy," Tyki grinned behind borders and waved his hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Walker. My name is Tyki Mikk and I will accompany you a lot in here."

Lavi and Kanda stared at the scene. "Is it just me, or is Tyki on this... Walker's back already?" Lavi asked with so much amusement. Poor little boys always got a piece of Tyki when they came to 'his' rink. Not that Lavi cared much. He sighed quietly and flipped his hair away from his visible eye. He should get the bandana on later.

"Tch," Kanda stared at weird scar on Allen's face. "He is so freaky."

Three people behind them sighed heavily and soon after went down the stairs, towards the rink. Lavi looked after them. Did they get upset what Kanda and he had talked about? Lavi furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn't his fault this Walker looked weird, at least from bigger distance. "Does he have a scar or something... or is that a tattoo?" he then wondered out loud, but never got an answer.

Anita shook hands with Allen as the boy came next to the borders. "You have such a talent, Allen. You make it look so easy and you're not even breaking sweat. Welcome to Canada."

"Thank you," Allen said politely and looked at his three friends who were coming down the stairs. "Is something wrong?"

A girl called Fou pursed her lips and then slammed her hand into a wall. "That red-headed and long-haired bastards..." she muttered quietly which made Allen to move his gaze towards the seats. Oh, those two. He had seen their hockey practice earlier inside the other rink. Not that anyone was aware that he was watching. What could Allen do about his curiosity? He had always liked watching ice hockey. He wasn't much of a hockey player though.

Lenalee sighed quietly. "Those two over there are my friends... The one with red hair and eye patch is Lavi Bookman, grandpa Bookman's grandson in other words. The one with dark blue hair is Kanda Yuu. My childhood friend. They can be a little mean. But what can you do, they think that figure skating is for gays. Plus, if you really get to known to them, which I make sure you do, they are the greatest friends you could ask for. Lavi has this most awesome side and Kan-"

"Oh," Allen said quietly, cutting the conversation and proceeding to take off his black skates. Lenalee seemed a little offended by Allen's lack of interest in her friends. Lavi and Kanda were absolutely amazing. She touched her hair quietly and thought about her words. Maybe Allen is just very sensitive person? He needs time to adjust here. And this many people here is probably making him stress too. Lenalee sighed again. Okay, maybe tomorrow is a better day for everyone, for those two hockey players too.

Fou sat next to Allen after she had recovered from a small shock. "Bak and Lou Fa came to see you too!" she said with a smile and slammed Allen's back. "I knew you were good, but to be THAT good. Wow, you little shrimp."

"Shut up Fou," Allen laughed quietly and stuffed his skates to his black training bag. "It was just a practice."

Lenalee motioned Kanda and Lavi come down too. They will be taking Allen home anyways. And no, she hadn't asked about it yet. But there was no other option! There was no way in world she would let Tyki take Allen home. "Kanda! Lavi! Come here and meet my new friend, please?!" she yelled so that boys could hear her clearly.

Lavi and Kanda didn't dare to move at first, but when Lenalee added 'please' at the end of her sentence, they had to come down. Just because her kicks were something they didn't want to experience too often. As they came down and saw everyone quite well, Lavi was quite surprised by Allen's looks.

He did not look freaky, actually more like unique. But not freaky. Lavi quickly turned his gaze to Lenalee who was smiling sweetly at them. "We will take Allen home too, not buts Kanda!" she said and hugged Allen who seemingly stiffened when arms circled his small body. Lenalee took a note of that and let Allen go quickly. Okay, no touching? Maybe it's weird for British people?

"N-no, Ms. Lee, it's quite okay. Walking will be good for my health and it's not that long walk anyways," Allen lied as he waved at Bak, Lou Fa and Fou. They had a bus to catch so they were in a small hurry. Fou showed a sign of calling Allen later today to make sure he is okay. What great friends Allen had. Too bad they lived pretty far away from him, so this was more like an exception.

Tyki patted Allen's shoulder with a sly grin. "I can take him home."

Anita smiled with Bookman. Allen already had so much new friends inside the hall. Things were going smoothly to her eyes so it was time to sidestep for now. "I will be going now. We'll see you tomorrow at 8 am sharp, Allen and Lenalee."

"Good night, Anita!" Lenalee chirped and turned her attention back to the boys after Anita had left the building with Bookman. "Oh no Tyki, you're not taking him home," she hissed protectively and pulled Allen towards her. This means war.

"What does it matter? They're both gays anyways."

"Lavi!" Lenalee kicked Lavi in the shin and sighed quietly. "I told you Allen... But once you get to known to him-"

Allen put up his hand to silence Lenalee. "I said it is okay. I will be going with Tyki since your friend obviously doesn't accept me easily. Maybe it's too sudden to break your friendship bubble with me", Allen said with a weak smile and rubbed back of his head. He understood. Those two boys were very masculine and Allen knew it was best to give them some space.

Lenalee glared at Lavi. "Do something," she whispered to the so-called rabbit. Lenalee didn't want Allen to get raped on his first night at Canada. They were supposed to make Allen enjoy, not being tormented by someone like Tyki Mikk.

"I... Uhm..." Lavi mumbled and stared blankly at Allen. Staring at the boy, he soon became to realize something. Even if this boy had the sweetest smile, it didn't reach his eyes. Lavi saw it. He thought something was wrong with him. Maybe he could try to be nice with him. Even if he seemed gay for dancing on ice. "Kanda has a butt heater in his car."

Lenalee facepalmed. That's all Lavi was able to pull off? Maybe saying sorry would've been okay too. "Lavi..."

Allen bit his lip. He didn't want to laugh at Lavi's desperate try to get him out of Tyki's grasp. But maybe that was the reason why he gave up. Lavi was acting so pathetic. "Fine. I'll come if Kanda has a butt heater because that is the most important thing in the middle of summer."

Kanda kicked Lavi's arse too. "You fucking idiot."

Tyki sighed in defeat and ruffled Allen's hair. "See you tomorrow then, boy. Have a good sleep. Tomorrow your training from Hell will begin."

"Go-good night Mr. Mikk!" Allen hurried to say and then stared at three people in front of him. "Uhmm... Are we going now?"

Lenalee nodded and dragged Allen along with her and boys. "My god Allen, you really are small. And just call us by our first names. No need to be polite. We're around same age anyways. Canada is so different from England, I bet!"

"I'm not that small," Allen said with a cracked smile as Kanda unlocked his car. Allen sat into the backseats with Lavi. "I'm still growing for sure."

Lenalee turned her head from the front seat to look at Allen. He was being too adorable because of his height complex. "So! Where do you live?" she asked from Allen. As Allen was telling the address awkwardly, Lenalee's eyes widened.

"You lied!" she whined and pursed her lips. "That is 25 miles away! And on the same street with us but... Our apartments are pretty cheap. So I guess I understand why you got there. Are you living alone or something?"

"N-no, I actually live with my dog, Timcanpy," Allen told nervously. He didn't yet know if his guardian, Cross Marian, would show up to his house. He shivered a little. The thought of having him in the same house again was terrifying.

Lavi gaped at Allen with disbelief. This boy had lost it somewhere. Did he really plan to walk 25 miles? Well, Tyki would've saved him but... Or raped, however you prefer to call it. These British men really were weird then. "You're weird, beansprout!" he smiled and relaxed on his seat.

"Beansprout..?" Allen glared at Lavi, who told this weird compliment. "Shut up you damn pirate."

* * *

It was nearly 10PM when they had stopped to Kanda's house. Everyone just sat silently in the car, until Lavi broke the silence with an awkward laugh. "Okay… So… You live next to Kanda and me, huh?"

Allen turned his gaze to Lavi, who tried hard to keep conversation going. What was wrong with this guy? First he insults Allen about being gay (kind of an insult) and then he tries to act all nice and cool. "Yes".

Kanda got off from the car along with everyone else and took everyone's bags out of the trunk. "Do we have to pick you up tomorrow?"

"No!" Allen almost shouted and then hid his face behind the training back. "I-I mean… I'm more than capable of walking that distance. I'm used to walking around a lot, so it's nothing to worry about!"

Lenalee gave Allen a weird look as she urged Kanda to carry her back to her porch. "Allen… Is being polite just part of being British, or do you have something else on your mind?" she asked with slight concern. Maybe it was just her, but she thought something was definitely off with Allen.

Lavi stayed with Lenalee, kind of interested to hear about Allen. He was sure, that Allen wasn't ordinary. He didn't think that Allen came to Canada just to ice-skate on bigger rinks. When Allen didn't answer anything, Lavi was the one to break the silence, again. Maybe he felt obliged to protect Allen a little bit. He didn't seem to be comfortable talking about him being way too polite. "Would you like a cup of tea, Mr. Walker?" he asked, trying to mimic British accent as best as he could.

Allen's eyes widened as he turned his gaze to Lavi. Was he actually trying to make him feel like home? That was actually kind of nice, to take conversation somewhere else. "Uhm… Yes, that would be nice," he complied and waved goodbye to Lenalee. Allen followed Lavi to his house and left his training bag to the porch.

"Actually, I don't have any tea," Lavi confessed with a big grin. He looked Allen's face fall into a little disappointment. "I think coffee is a little bit too late already… How aboooout…"

"Glass of milk and cookies?"

Lavi's grin widened and he took Allen into his kitchen. "This is my palace," he introduced his kitchen, going straight for the fridge. "So? What brought you to Canada?"

Allen waited until he got some cookies and milk. "To join with the professional ice skaters?" he asked Lavi with an obvious voice and bit into his chocolate chip cookie. Dear lord, this Lavi knew how to bake cookies.

Lavi inspected Allen with his only eye and hummed quietly. He had to admit, Allen had talent and Anita probably wants him to join championships too. "There is Russia too. It's closer."

Allen cursed under his breath. This Lavi was pretty clever, wasn't he? He needed to think a good comeback right now. "Have you ever been to Russia?"

"Yes," Lavi said, smile starting to fall from his face. What this little beansprout was trying to hide?

Now Allen felt like an idiot. Shit, of course he had to visit Russia at some point of his life. "They want to kill gay people," he said quickly. His stomach started to feel cold, so Allen took some more cookies. Now Allen had practically confessed that he was a gay. Great! Things were going so smoothly.

Lavi saw right through Allen at that point, but decided not to push it. There has to be other reason. Lavi counted some miles in his head and came to one conclusion: Russia wasn't far enough from England if Allen was trying to run away from something, or someone. "How's your family?"

"At home, in England," Allen lied straight through his teeth. "Why are you so interested anyways?"

"I just want to know what my new friend is like, where he comes from, what are his intentions, can I trust him… Stuff like that," Lavi said with true intentions. "Do you like my cookies?"

Allen was glad that Lavi had finally dropped his interrogation for now. "Yes, they are absolutely wonderful," he told Lavi with a small smile on his face. Allen started to get up from the chair and he finished his milk too. "Thank you for offering me these cookies and milk."

"Heyyyyy, wait now," Lavi whined and touched Allen's pale hand. He wasn't going to give up this easily. "Can I walk you home?"

Allen sweatdropped and pointed at his house from the window which was two meters away from his. "I think I can survive," he said and walked away from Lavi, wishing him good night and leaving through the door. As Allen closed Lavi's front door, he felt relieved. That Lavi… He was way too smart for his own good. Allen bit his teeth together and marched to his house.

Lavi stayed at kitchen, staring the empty milk glass in front of him. This was going to be so interesting. Allen was a challenge. This made him smile a little. He liked challenges.

* * *

Allen went inside his house and shut the door quietly. He slid down to sit on floor. "Shit," he cursed and punched the floor softly with his hand. Goddammit! Lavi. Lenalee. Kanda wasn't interested in his life all that much, but those other two. Lenalee gave up quite quickly but Allen was sure that Lavi wouldn't give up so easily. Well good luck with that, Mr. Bookman. Allen rubbed his temples and later got up. He needed to unpack too.

The boy walked into his small kitchen, only to find himself staring eye-to-eye with Lavi, who was leaning out of his window. That wasn't exactly very friendly staring competition. It was more like testing which one will give up first. Allen shut his blinds with irritated growl and opened his fridge – which was empty. This made Allen even more frustrated. He didn't have time to go shopping today. Timcanpy waddled to kitchen with his big paws, which were too big for him right now. Poor puppy. At least he had some food in his bowl. "Hey buddy."

* * *

_Bling bliing… bling bliing… blingblingblingbling…_

"WHAT!?" Allen yelled when he opened his front door. It was only 6AM and Lavi was already standing on is porch. Allen's eyebrow twitched. How dares he come here so early? And why did he come here in the first place?!

"Owwww, don't shout like that," Lavi whined and showed his basket which was full of ingredients. "I figured you don't have any food in your fridge. You can go take a shower and get dressed while I make us breakfast~"

Allen was ready to hit Lavi but sound of breakfast awfully good. "O-okay…" he sighed quietly and pointed at one box in kitchen. "There are all the kitchen supplies you need. I'll go to shower now. And if I see that you have touched anything else except that box, I will kill you."

"Yes sir!" Lavi grinned and skipped to kitchen. He set down his basket and looked around. Time to investigate a little. This was just a cover, of course. Lavi had a real reason to come here this early. He wanted to sniff around a little. Lavi made sure he heard that shower went on and after that, started his investigations on boxes that were already opened.

Lavi hit jackpot on the first try and found some kind of, box of memories maybe. He lift up a picture where Allen was with a man, most definitely his father. Lavi took a closer look at the picture. But this is not Allen, Lavi thought as he stared at the picture. In this picture, the little boy has brown hair. "How weird…" he muttered and looked other pictures where the same boy appeared every time with the same man. Lavi put the pictures back just the way they were and went to prepare breakfast.

All Lavi could think is that the brunette boy in picture was Allen's brother, or Allen had dyed his hair white, or… Lavi furrowed his eyebrows. Trauma. He would need to sneak around a little more to know about Allen's past and life. As Lavi was about to turn around from the stove to see more boxes, he came face-to-face with Allen. "Ah, Allen!" he smiled, "how was the shower?"

Allen made some space for them to eat at the table. "It was nice, thank you for asking," Allen answered and looked around the boxes carefully. Nothing seemed off place. Good. Lavi was obedient.

"What are you trying to hide so badly?"

Allen almost choked on his spit. He hadn't think this to the end, had he? He sighed quietly and sat onto his kitchen chair. "Why do you want to know so badly? Some people actually want to have a fresh start."

"Because past is what makes you who you are today," Lavi said and gave Allen a plate full of eggs, bacon and pancakes. He filled his plate too and came to sit in front of Allen. Both of the boys took their forks and ate in silence. Lavi kind of knew Allen's feelings about fresh start, but they both had probably different reasons. "I can see through you easily."

Allen nibbled his food quietly. Lavi had a point, but he didn't know that the boy in front of him actually saw through his lies. "I'm not ready to talk about my past and I'm not willing to share to share it with anyone, especially not with strangers."

"Okay, sorry. I understand your point."

"Good."

Rest of the meal went in silence, but the silence wasn't too awkward. They both got what they wanted. Silent agreement that they might talk about this later. Maybe in days, maybe weeks, maybe months. Someday.

"So… Lavi," Allen started with a thoughtful expression on his face, "were you born in Canada?"

"Actually no, I was born in Alaska, Anchorage. My grandfather raised me and when I was 10 years old, I moved to Canada with him."

"Any particular reason why you moved from Alaska?" Allen asked and tilted his head to side innocently. See Lavi? This is how it feels to be interrogated.

Lavi smiled at Allen's antics. He wanted to play the same game, huh? Fine. "You know… Bears in Alaska are pretty scary and nights are lonely~"

Allen giggled at Lavi's words. What a way to avoid a question. Okay, that question was too private then and Lavi had something to hide too.

"I think we have to leave for our practice," Lavi said when he broke the comfortable silence around them. Kanda was waiting outside with Lenalee. "Are you ready for the day?"

"Yes I am," Allen smiled and got up from his chair.

* * *

**A/N: I finally had time to write something that has been on my mind for months now. I need to let it out. I just need to. :3 I'm sorry for my crappy English and I will try to get better at it all the time. c: I'm not a figure skater, nor a hockey player but I love them both from the bottom of my heart. I hope I'll see you in the next chapter! **


	2. I can read you

Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda arrived to ice rinks at 8AM sharp. Lenalee was sparkling with joy and excitement. "Allen, listen. You will train with Tyki today, but I will be there too. Anita is coaching me currently, because I have local contests on Saturday. She will get back to you as soon as she can."

Allen felt shivers running through his spine when Lenalee mentioned Tyki's name. He wouldn't deny it: Tyki was one of the best ice skaters out there and good-looking too. But something about this guy made Allen be careful around him. Maybe if he got to known him better, they will be great friends. That made Allen glance at Lavi, who was taking his training bag out of the trunk. That bastard who intrudes his privacy more than enough.

Kanda clicked his tongue at Lenalee. How can she be so chirpy, first thing in the morning? He sighed quietly. "Come on rabbit, we don't have all day to chitchat with gays and ladies."

"Oh, that includes you too, Kanda. I didn't know they let ladies like you to join a male hockey team…" Allen smirked and stared at Kanda. Sleeping made Allen feel better, apparently. Or he had finally found his "rival" who he could pick on every now and then.

"What did you say you fucking shrimp!?" Kanda questioned and tried to chop Allen's head off with a hockey stick.

Lavi laughed whole-heartedly and dragged Kanda with him. "See ya 'round, Lenalee, Allen!" he waved from the distance with a big grin, dragging Kanda right behind him.

Lenalee giggled and took Allen's hand. "Let's go then," she smiled and started to walk, around four meters behind Lavi and Kanda, on a slow pace. "Sooo… Why was Lavi at your house today morning?" she asked curiously. Not that it was a surprise because Lavi always invited himself everywhere without asking a permission.

"He came to ring my doorbell and he had food," Allen told Lenalee and sighed heavily, "it's not like I invited him. He just barged in. I don't think he would've taken 'no' as an answer."

Lenalee looked Allen with so much amusement. Poor Allen. His first morning here and he was already assaulted by Lavi. "But he's not as bad as he seemed at first, right? I understand your opinion about Kanda but…"

Allen thought about Lenalee's words for a while and then shrugged his shoulders. "Time will show whether Lavi is bad or not. I won't define people so easily."

"Understood," Lenalee smiled and led Allen inside the males' changing rooms. Afterwards she skipped to the other side of corridor, to the females' changing rooms.

Allen changed into his training clothes, black pants with turquoise lines on thighs combined with a jacket that had the same colors. "Crap, I think I'm running late," Allen mumbled as he laced his ice skates as quickly as he could. Soon he was able to go to the rink, where Tyki was waiting him.

"Boy, we are ten minutes off the schedule. Do you need help next time?" Tyki asked slyly and skated towards Allen, who blushed from his words. How adorable, Tyki thought and looked around. "I don't think I actually have a lot to teach you, but I think I can teach you more ways to warm up… other than sex of course."

"I would appreciate if you kept private things as private," Allen requested kindly and decided to take a few round around the rink first. This was going to be long two hours of training.

* * *

To Lavi's surprise, he wasn't going to be on ice today. Bookman had told him to be observer, because someday he will take over this hockey team and start coaching. Lavi sighed quietly. He would rather play than observe. It was boring to just sit and watch! Lavi glanced over his shoulder to Lenalee, who was currently training with Anita. His eyes followed to the smaller rink beside Lenalee's and there were two other figure skaters. Tyki and Allen.

Lavi stared at Allen for a while. The movements with Tyki – he didn't really like to be touched, did he? Weird. Lavi turned his gaze back to his teammates. Allen was a big puzzle for Lavi. Then again, Lavi couldn't blame Allen. This was a whole new environment for him. Maybe he was just nervous?

Kanda kicked Krory with his ice skates. "You can't hit you teammates with a hockey stick!"

"Hey Kanda! That is dangerous!" Daisya growled and helped Krory up. Poor man. Kanda needed to be a little more considerate. "It was probably just an accident."

Krory couldn't help himself: he had to bow for Kanda. "I'm very sorry about that accident. It wasn't meant to happen," he said and tried to be as humble as possible.

Lavi looked at his teammates from a far. He hadn't really realized it before, but their team spirit sucked. Lavi pulled his bandana over his eyes, sitting next to sighing Bookman. "Panda, what should we do?"

Bookman smacked Lavi. "Just now you realized the situation at hand?" he growled at his grandson. Lavi had no idea how bad it was until he came out from the rink and just watched. They might be one of the best hockey teams out there, but if the team spirit was gone, there was no guarantee that they will be one of the best for long.

Lavi whined a little from the pain, but decided not to think about it too much. "I'll go see how Lenalee's doing. I've seen enough of this already," he said quietly to Bookman walked towards the rink where Lenalee and Anita were.

"Lavi! We need to discuss about this later!" Bookman growled after him, "ungrateful kid."

Lavi rolled his eyes and sat on the bench, right next to board. "Yo Anita~," Lavi grinned happily and pointed at Lenalee who was currently skating her performance number on ice, "how is she doing?"

Anita smiled and sat next to Lavi. "She is doing great, as always. I don't think Lenalee will be having any problems on weekend," she told Lavi, "are you coming to support her?"

The red-head pondered a little while and nodded. "Probably yes, if I don't have anything better to do," he said shrugging his shoulders. His gaze averted to Tyki's and Allen's rink where both of the boys were in… Kind of a suggesting posture. "Uhmm…"

"Oh Lavi, they are just doing some stretching. Tyki just has his own taste in everything," Anita smiled gently.

Allen was not happy about this new form of stretching. He was standing, but he was stretching towards ice in a way, that let Tyki access his butt quite well. Allen had to bite his lip. Tyki was almost laying on his back and he could feel his things! Allen didn't even want to think those things out loud in his mind. "You know… I don't need help in stretching."

Tyki smirked and added more pressure, which made Allen wince a little. Allen's lower back needed more stretching. "Boy, this helps more than doing it alone."

"I don't care!" Allen whined and finally got out from Tyki's grip. He glanced the clock and started to take off his ice skates. "Training time is over. I'm going to shower."

"Oh yeah, shower sounds nice," Tyki admitted, smirking more widely. He was also taking off his ice skates.

Allen's face was priceless, Lavi thought. He got up from his seat and walked towards Tyki's and Allen's rink. "Yoooo Allen. I have some water at Lenalee's rink. Wanna take a break before shower?"

"Yes please!" Allen squeaked quickly and skipped to Lavi's side. For once, he was happy about Lavi's timing. "You can go to shower first Tyki. I want to see how Lenalee is doing…"

Tyki looked Lavi with murderous intent and clicked his tongue quietly. This red-head. Older two boys were in a heated staring contest, until Allen pulled Lavi's sleeve carefully. "Hey, earth to Lavi. Are you okay?"

Lavi turned to look at Allen and nodded. "I'll be right there, you can go ahead," he grinned and patted Allen's white hair. Fluffy. "I feel need to talk with my old friend here so…"

"Ah, right…" Allen mumbled, spinning on his heels and walking to the other rink. "Lenalee!" he called and sat next to her. She had already skated her performance so she was taking a small break. "How is your training going?"

Lenalee smiled at Allen. "You seem to be in better spirit today. It was great, but tiring," she told Allen. "Would you like to see my performance? I have to do it once again and then I'm free to go.

"Sounds good."

* * *

"What's up Lavi?" Tyki asked and took a seat on one of the benches. It was unusual that Lavi had come to talk with him. "Feeling desperate for love, maybe?"

"I'm the one asking," Lavi said, not bothering to sit down. Instead he leaned onto board behind him. "Leave Allen alone. You're not doing any good for him."

"And you are, Bookman?" Tyki laughed quietly. Seriously, Lavi wasn't the best companion for Allen either. "Why do you even care?"

Lavi furrowed his eyebrows. True, why did he even care? Awkward silence fell over the two boys as Lavi thought his answer. "He's new. He doesn't need a dick in his ass from a bastard," Lavi finally growled at Tyki, "besides, he is Lenalee's friend so I'm obliged to look after him. I don't want Lenalee's legs to be shoved in my face if something happens to Allen under my nose."

Tyki got up from his seat and walked to see Lavi's face better. He stared into his visible eye and saw no hint of lies. Maybe he was speaking the truth, or he was a good liar and wanted to tap Allen by himself. "You better watch for your little kitten then."

This made Lavi glare Tyki. That was an obvious threat. "Keep your hands off of him."

"In your dreams," Tyki said and walked off. Lavi stared after him for a while, until he got bored and walked back to Allen. He took a seat next to the white haired boy, letting out a loud sigh. "Wanna come and have a lunch with me later today?"

Allen jumped a little at the request and said nothing for a while. He glanced at his side, only to see Lavi's glum face, staring at the ground. "You know, I think that the ground doesn't like your glum face all that much."

"Yes or no Allen?"

"Sure, why not," Allen the complied with Lavi's request, "but I would like to know what made you ask me that?"

Lavi rolled his eyes, but soon his face grew into a big grin again. "Didn't I say already? I want to know you better. And it's better to have something arranged with me already, if Tyki asks you out."

Allen stared at Lavi. Really? Did he really think that far? Allen smiled gently at Lavi, patting his shoulder. "Thank you, Lavi."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Later on that day, Lavi took Allen to a small café for a lunch and maybe to have some tea. "So, when you will attend the Black Order Uni? You're 17, right?" Lavi asked Allen as he sat down with his hamburger steak. He couldn't take off his eyes from Allen's plate though. It was piled with mitarashi dango!

Allen blinked at Lavi's question for a while. "Ah yes, Mr. Komui Lee said that I will be attending starting next week," he started and took a bite of a dango in his hand, "I will be part of your class, I heard from Lenalee."

Lavi's eye turned from plate to Allen. "But I'm 20. You are 17. How can you attend my class? I'm smart and I didn't get behind my studies!"

"I'm uh… Honor student," Allen explained as he was trying to find right words, "I skipped some classes in pre-school. That's why I'm attending your classes."

"Ohh. I bet you're real smartass then!" Lavi grinned from ear to ear and ate his steak happily. Great, now he and Allen were classmates too. He could really get into Allen's dirty past. Hopefully it was dark and shady, so he could get pleasure for knowing something thrilling. "Is that a scar or a tattoo on your face?"

Allen almost choked on his dango. Christ, twice in two days he was about to choke? He sighed and turned his eyes away from Lavi. "I don't want to discuss about that either."

"Okay... Next question. Do you have brothers, sisters?" Lavi continued his investigation. He wanted to know about the boy on the pictures. It couldn't be Allen… Right?

"No, I don't have any younger or older siblings. Just me and my father," Allen explained, feeling dull ache in his heart. Maybe he should say it. But he didn't know if Lavi was keen on gossiping. Allen wouldn't want everyone to know about his past. And Lavi didn't seem to be one who could keep his mouth shut. No offense Lavi, Allen thought quietly and sighed.

So that explained few things to Lavi: why there was no mother in pictures and who that little boy in the picture was. "What about your hair color? Is it all natural, do you dye it? Not many wants a white hair like you have."

Allen couldn't really read Lavi's expression. He stared now at his visible eye, not blinking an eye. "Your eye is like glass. It reflects me, but that's all. Nothing reaches inside," Allen told quietly for Lavi, not answering his question. He kept staring, seeing now rush of emotions in Lavi's eye, but it was only for few seconds. "To your question: Yes and no. My hair color turned like this because of a trauma," he confessed to Lavi. Maybe he earned that much.

Lavi turned his gaze somewhere else than Allen's eyes. Allen was able to read him, huh? This made Lavi chuckle a little. "How about your silvery eyes then, Allen? Why your smile never reaches them?"

Silence fell upon the two boys who were now finished their meals. Allen felt coldness in his stomach. This had to be worst thing ever, for both of them. Allen was able to read Lavi and Lavi was able to read Allen, like open books. Things suddenly had become awkward between them. They had known only for a day, but Allen would've never guessed that out of all humans in the Earth… Lavi was the one who said right through him, on first glance.

Lavi leaned back in his chair. "Listen, Allen," he started cautiously, "I don't know about you, but I find this kind of interesting. Will you be my friend?"

Allen didn't quite know what to say. He had lost all his words. "Did I say that you were right about me?" he whispered quietly and got up from his chair. Allen let out a deep sigh. "There are things that are best… to leave alone, Lavi."

Lavi watched as Allen disappeared through the door. All Lavi could think was how the hell did Allen see through him?

* * *

Allen took a bus home, because he really didn't want Lavi give him a lift right now. While Allen was sitting in a bus, he rested his head into cold window. I need to take some space from Lavi, Allen thought quietly and closed his eyes. It was been one day and he had already got a nuisance tailing him everywhere. Allen gritted his teeth. He didn't want friends.

The white haired boy got up from his seat to leave the bus. He had almost missed his stop. Allen fumbled around his backpack to find his keys so that he could open the door of his house. As Allen got inside, he proceeded to unpack the boxes.

Timcanpy was following Allen around all the time, trying to eat everything that came across the little puppy. He even tried to shred Allen's skinny jeans while the boy was putting books in to a dark red bookshelf. "No Tim!" Allen groaned and pulled his leg away from the dog, "bad Tim."

Allen heard Lavi's car parking to the house next to him so he glanced carefully out from the window. Why did he even care?

Lavi stepped out of his car and glanced towards Allen's window. He flashed a small smile to the boy, who was peeking out of the window. He then proceeded to go inside his house and got greeted by Lenalee. "Ah Lenalady, do you need something?"

Lenalee shook her head, giggling. "No, I just came to see Kanda. How was your lunch with Allen? Did you find out anything about him? You told that he is kind of a puzzle."

Lavi was about to tell Lenalee, but shut his mouth. He collapsed to the couch and yawned. "Nothing interesting, to be honest," he told Lenalee eventually, "his hair is natural."

"That's all, huh?" Lenalee mumbled, collapsing next to Lavi. That was kind of disappointing. Well, maybe Allen will open up as time goes by. That's what Lenalee hoped, the very least. "Kanda went for grocery shopping. Why don't we ask Allen to come over for a dinner?"

"I don't think he will agree," Lavi said, looking at Lenalee, who seemed to be confused, "I can try though."

Lenalee smiled. "I can go too," she answered to Lavi's wondering. Maybe Lavi had said something wrong to Allen at lunch? Lenalee thought of her idea for a while. Maybe they had a fight! It needed to be fixed. "Did something happen at the lunch?"

"What? No," Lavi laughed. Nothing bad actually didn't happen. Maybe it was more shocking experience for both. Too much information in a one day could take a toll on anyone. "Everything is okay. I kind of think we should leave Allen alone for a while. Not to push him too much or anything. He needs time to adjust. He hadn't even unpacked his boxes yet."

"Must be stressful," Lenalee mumbled, standing up. She didn't know, but she had a hunch. "I think that… Allen has been alone a lot. He doesn't really know how to react to people's kindness."

"That might be too early thinking, Lenalady," Lavi laughed quietly. He really hoped Allen just needed to adjust and have some time alone to be a normal human again. If you can put it that way. "Maybe he has lived a normal life just like everyone else?" Lavi suggested to her. Pffft, normal life, my ass, Lavi thought. Allen said his hair had turned white from a trauma! That is not a normal life for sure.

Lenalee blushed a little from Lavi's scolding. He was right. She was worrying too much. "You're right," she smiled, "I can always count on your wisdom, Bookman Junior!"

Lavi grinned. "You're welcome, Lenalee."

Allen glanced at his two neighbors from his own living room window. The houses were mirrored. Only two meters apart is too little for Allen's taste. Like there was no privacy at all. Allen pursed his lips. He had seen from Lenalee's lips: they had said his name few times. Was Lavi already gossiping? Probably yes. Not that it was very surprising.

The small boy made his way to the last box which contained all his memories from past. Allen took one picture out and placed it on the wall. He was smiling happily with his old friend, Narain. Behind the two boys was standing Allen's father, Mana. Allen let out a small sigh and placed his hand on the cold surface of the glass. One of his best memories. "Why did you have to go, Mana?" he whispered quietly to the picture.

* * *

**A/N: That was the chapter two! I've been a little busy, but my goal is to give you at least three chapters in a week. Thank you for reviewing and everything. I really appreciate every support I get. :3 **


	3. Puppies and tears

The following morning wasn't something Kanda Yuu expected. There was a small golden retriever sleeping under his blanket. The Asian male couldn't do anything but blink his eyes. "What the…"

Lavi was drinking his morning coffee when a big set of curses, yelling and running was heard from the upstairs. "Yuu, would you shut up, please? I'm still tired," Lavi whined loudly, "Eeeeh? When did you get a puppy, Yuu?"

"It's not mine!" Kanda yelled at Lavi and lifted the poor puppy up from the back of its neck, "I was about to ask you the same thing!"

Lavi rescued the crying puppy from Kanda's death grip. "Don't be so mean," Lavi started and glanced puppy's stomach area," … to him. He is probably just lost!"

"Are you seriously taking that puppy inside this house? It's probably carrying all kinds of diseases," Kanda protested, looking for his katana now. He will chop that puppy to pieces and sell it to some shady Chinese people.

"Wait. He has a name tag," Lavi said as he touched the smooth surface of the tag. Kanda seemed to calm down after hearing this. "Timcanpy, huh? How did he even get inside the house…?"

It didn't take long for Kanda to realize where the puppy had come in. He pointed at the open window in kitchen. "There. You left it open last night because it was too hot."

Lavi pursed his lips. He had to think for a while. How many of his neighbors even had a dog? Lenalee and Komui didn't have one for sure, Jean and his mother didn't have one… Tyki and Road had a cat, but not a dog. But wait, Allen told he had a dog, right? That was also a good excuse to visit Allen. "I think it is Allen's dog."

"Beansprout's, huh? Well I guess he might be an irresponsible dog owner…"

Lavi was sure that Allen wasn't irresponsible Accidents happen. "I'll go return Timcanpy to him," Lavi grinned, starting to march happily towards Allen's house. He didn't know if this was a good idea after what yesterday, but… maybe this could work as an apology? Lavi had been way too straightforward about Allen's past, again.

At the same time Allen was crying his heart out in the living room. "Tim…," he moaned in his sadness. Allen had woken up this morning, but Timcanpy was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even come for breakfast. It took some for Allen to realize that Timcanpy had run away from home. And now he was even more alone than before. Allen kept crying until he heard his doorbell. Said boy cursed his luck. Visitors on Saturday morning? Great. Allen didn't even feel like going to see Lenalee's show even though he had kind of promised her.

Like a zombie, Allen walked his way to the door. When he opened the door, Allen was greeted with a bright smile, which almost lit up the hallway.

"Hey neighb– WOAH! You don't look too hot…," Lavi's smile fell, but he still kept Timcanpy hidden behind his back, "ya okay, buddy? It's not about yesterday, is it?" he asked with slight concern.

Allen's lower lip trembled when Lavi asked if he was okay. Say goodbye to the pokerface. "It's Timcanpy!" Allen wailed, starting to cry again, "he ran away from home last night…"

Something in Lavi's so-called emotionless heart moved when he saw Allen crying. He looked so tired, so weak. Poor boy, was all Lavi could think of. Before Lavi could say anything at all to make Allen feel better, Allen continued.

"He abandoned me. Just like everyone else," Allen whispered weakly, about to close the door already. Lavi shouldn't see him like this. Allen was too wrecked. "No one cares… Mana…"

Lavi decided that this was not the right way to spill out painful past. He put Timcanpy down and silenced Allen with his hand. Allen cold feel the warmth of the hand and it made him relax a little. "Shhhh… Everything is okay Allen. I brought Timcanpy back, you can stop crying now."

Allen's eyes widened when he saw the familiar puppy on his doorstep. "Tim!" he muffled through Lavi's hand. Allen moved Lavi's hand gently away and lifted Timcanpy to his lap. "Thank you so much, Lavi…"

"He probably came hungry last evening when I was cooking and came through our window… It's not hard to climb up small crates and hop in," Lavi explained while inviting himself inside and closing the door after, "Listen Allen… I'm sorr-"

"No. I'm sorry, Lavi. It wasn't my intention to… say things like that. I'm not the one who should be talking about showing emotions. And I'm also sorry that you had to see me like this."

Lavi was hit by a surprise. Allen apologized for nothing. He grinned slightly for Allen's words. "Why would you apologize over something so silly? When you want to cry, you should have someone to cheer you up. That's what friends are for, right?"

Allen wiped last of his tears away, smiling weakly. "Would you like some coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee would be great!"

* * *

"– and then Yuu said that if I keep braiding his hair, his manliness will reduce!" Lavi laughed so hard that he almost fell from the comfortable couch.

It had been five hours since Lavi invited himself to Allen's house. Lavi guessed that he would call this bonding. They had seen two movies, one horror movie and one comedy, so that Allen wouldn't be afraid at night. Lavi also had told the most embarrassing things he had done to Yuu for the past few years.

Allen laughed along with Lavi. It had been a long time since he last had laughed this much. "Like having his hair braided or not would change anything!"

"I know right!" Lavi grinned and finally fell from the couch. Allen's just started laughing harder. "Awww, look at the time, beansprout! We missed Lenalee's performance."

Allen groaned quietly as he glanced at the clock on his wall. His stomach growled loudly. "Is it okay if I eat something, or would you like to stay and have a lunch with me here? Or more like a dinner?"

"Mmm, that sounds great. I wanna eat heeeereee, please! Can I help!?" Lavi jumped up from the floor, always ready to help. Like a scout boy, Allen thought and giggled inside his head.

"No, you're my guest and you saved Tim from Jerkanda," Allen reasoned with a nod, "you've already done so much for me. More than enough actually."

Lavi pouted with a big disappointment. "Sucks. Is it okay if I look around a little? You have everything arranged nicely now, no boxes in way."

Allen had to stop and think for a while. Yes, it should be fine now, because everything "painful" was hidden, behind locks. "Sure, go ahead. I don't have much to look at though," Allen gave Lavi a permission to walk around the house. The white-haired boy walked into the kitchen and started making spaghetti. That would be easy to make and usually everyone likes it.

Lavi pumped his fist in the air and started wandering around the house. At the staircase he stopped to look at picture he had seen in the box before. But this one had two boys and a man behind them. Lavi closed his eyes to recall their conversation from earlier.

"_No, I don't have any younger or older siblings. Just me and my father."_

"_To your question: Yes and no. My hair color turned__ like this because of a trauma.__"_

_"Your eye is like glass. It reflects me, but that__'s all. Nothing reaches inside."_

Lavi opened his only visible eye and touched the picture with his fingers. He could almost feel it, all the emotions this one picture held inside.

"That's me, Narain and Mana," Allen said from the bottom of staircase, while Lavi had stopped at the middle. He cringed when Lavi's neck cracked. "Did I scare you?"

Lavi's head had snapped so fast at Allen's direction, that it had cracked a little. "N-no, I just thought… You are making food," he mumbled with a slight blush on his cheeks. He had got caught! Lavi quickly drew his hand away from the picture.

Allen smiled at Lavi and walked next to him. "It was too quiet, so I decided to check up on you," he explained, leaning towards the rail, "You're curious one, aren't you?"

"It's not like that. I don't want to force you to tell me anything. I know better than that. You just… seem different n this picture. Happy," Lavi said with a sad grin. It was interesting how an innocent child can transform into a depressed teen, or adult. "Did you lose your father?"

Allen tore his eyes away from the picture, feeling sick just thinking about it. "I'm not ready to talk about it…" he sighed, but gave a small nudge to Lavi's shoulder, "thanks for understanding."

Lavi looked after Allen, who went back to the kitchen. Then his eyes averted back to the picture. Allen had lost his father, apparently. He didn't deny it, Lavi thought and looked at the picture little closer. The father didn't really resemble Allen at all. That was weird for sure. Lavi backed down and decided to leave it at that. Allen would tell him when the time was right.

The rabbit continued his way to the upstairs. He skipped to Allen's bedroom. Simple. Three white walls, one silvery. Lavi decided it was very Allen-like room. He plopped down to Allen's bed and stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander around. It seemed like Allen had started to trust him a little. It was good thing, since this was his second day here. What kind of miracle he could do in a week? This thought made Lavi grin. But then again, after he would've solved the puzzle called Allen… Would he get bored? That didn't sound nice to his ears but it was a possibility.

Lavi was soon sound asleep on Allen's bed, dreaming about his own past.

…

Allen came check up on Lavi after 45 minutes and was surprised by the sight in his bedroom. Lavi had fallen asleep. The younger boy shook his head and poked Lavi's side. "Hey, dinner is ready. Wanna come eat or continue your dreaming?"

Lavi opened his eye, and looked around warily. He jumped a little when he saw Allen. "How long did I sleep? You have really comfortable bed…"

"Half an hour? 45 minutes? I'm not sure what time you fell asleep. Could five minutes ago too. Are you hungry?" Allen asked and stood up from the bed. "Dinner is ready."

"Food!" Lavi grinned and jumped up from the bed too. He almost ran to downstairs, Allen following behind him. The younger of the two slowed the pace at the stairs though. It was like someone was watching him. Allen snapped his head towards the picture. He hadn't realized it before but…

"Allen! Come on! I will eat everything if you don't hurry!"

Allen turned his head back to the direction of kitchen. "Don't you dare!" he growled, running to kitchen. Food was something we would never in his life miss out.

Lavi looked at the amount of food on Allen's plate. "Where does all that go…" he wondered out-loud, eyeing Allen from head to toe. To his eye, Allen seemed perfectly fit. Well, Allen had to be fit. He is a figure skater after all.

"So what's up with this… Your hate towards my kind?" Allen asked his mouth full of spaghetti. He remembered Lenalee's words from earlier. It was weird Lavi was treating hi nicely, Kanda was an exception though.

Lavi shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe Tyki is the reason," he reasoned quietly, poking his food quietly. He hated that bastard. "We used to date two years ago, but he was dating another dude from figure skating team. I think his name was… Ah, I can't remember. Anyhow, I found out he was cheating on me and it was quickly over."

Allen stared at Lavi's fork which was just… poking the food in front. "Sorry for asking. So uhmm…," Allen mumbled as he tried to change the topic into something else, "I start school on Monday. Will you help me out on the first day?" he asked nicely. Lavi liked to help and be the center of attention so maybe this would work, like magic.

Lavi's mood changed in a whim, like a woman's who was on her period. "Really!?" he beamed and smiled brightly at Allen. That was great news. He could introduce Allen to everyone! He grinned happily. Lavi would surely be happy to introduce their new star! Or Lenalee's new star. Oh yeah… "By the way, Allen. Are you single?"

"La-Lavi!" Allen stuttered, blushing madly at his question, "and yes I am, why would you think something like that?" he asked after, with more calmed posture. Lavi sure knew how to take him out with a surprise.

"NO, I was just thinking how many gay guys Black Uni has," Lavi told Allen, thinking about the amount in his head. Now that he thought, not too many people were gay… or they weren't just as good-looking as Lavi was. "I also thought you came here after love or something… That's why I thought you were dating."

Allen sighed, eating rest of his food in silence. After he and Lavi had finished with the food, Allen spoke out. "I'm not looking for a lover whatsoever right now and I don't think love is even made for me."

"Love is for everyone," Lavi said, even though he was thinking the same as Allen. Small smile made his way to Lavi's lips. They were so different, yet so alike. "What about one-night stands? If you got a chance to have one?"

"No, one-night stands… It's like one thing leads to another and then the accident has already happened," Allen told Lavi with a thoughtful expression, "someone is bound to get hurt, usually. Because in one-night stands usually, from experience, starts because the other one likes you. For real. Shall we have an example? I'm looking for a one-night stand and you are in love with me-"

"HEY! I'm not in love with you!"

"That wasn't the point! Just listen. This is only an example to make you see my view!" Allen moaned back at Lavi's stupidity, "–and you're in love with me. I decide to take an advantage of you because I only seek fun. I leave you in the morning and never call back. You're left alone in the sadness of being used."

Lavi blinked for a while, then started to feel bad. "Jeez… I never thought it that way… That's so deep, Allen. You're a good guy."

Allen facepalmed. Really? That thought had never even crossed Lavi's mind that he might be hurting the other one by doing things like that? He really needed a lesson about other people's emotions.

"I have a party next weekend at my house. Wanna join in?" Lavi suddenly asked, grinning like a madman. "It's kind of… My birthday party. So if you'd like to join?"

Allen stopped to think, again. He had done that a lot lately. He shouldn't be wasting his time on people, he should concentrate on something more important, like studying and having practice at the ice hall. "I'll… think about it."

"That's a no," Lavi sighed quietly, disappointed by Allen's answer. He decided to put on a huge show about Allen's answer. "And here I thought I was finally accepted by you! We saw old classic movies today! Psycho and Austin Powers! How can you say that to me after all we've been through?! I saved Timcanpy too!"

"OKAY!" Allen said loudly, surrendering to Lavi, "I'll come, okay?"

Lavi beamed and glomped Allen, who seemed not to be so happy about skin-to-skin contact… to the point where he was shivering. Lavi quickly backed away from Allen. "Hey?" he asked, "Allen? Ya okay there?"

Allen's heartbeat returned to normal when Lavi had scrambled away from him. He closed his eyes to steady his breath. "Yes, sorry. I just… haha, it was like a jumpscare!" he tried to fix his own reflexes somehow. He was only able to bear with Tyki on Friday, because there was an escape. Here, with a toned body over you wasn't something Allen could easily escape.

"Okay…" Lavi mumbled, but he didn't quite buy that. So he tried to touch Allen's hair. Lavi wasn't surprised when Allen flinched away from him. He decided to leave it at that and offered Allen his hand, so that he wouldn't seem suspicious. "I'll help you up."

Allen took Lavi's hand got up from the floor. "Thanks," he said with a small smile, glancing at the clock. Time really flew quickly. "Are you leaving?" he asked when Lavi started to walk towards hall. Allen followed him.

"Yup, I have to go training. We have evening booked up for training today. I'll catch you on Monday? Do you have to train tomorrow?"

Allen nodded. "Yes, I have to train tomorrow evening," he told Lavi and blew some hair strands out of his own face, "see you on Monday then."

"Until Monday!" Lavi grinned, leaving Allen alone for now. One green eye stared at the door for a while. Allen really was acting weird. He turned on his heels and walked inside his own house. Explanation to flinching away from the touch is usually simple: body and brain will remember. Lavi started to pack his training bag. How was Allen going to survive from Tyki's training if he is afraid of being touch? Lavi sighed quietly. Why did he even care? Allen had nothing to do with his life.

"_I don't want Lenalee's legs to be shoved in my face if something happens to Allen under my nose."_

Oh yeah, that was the reason. Lavi laughed lightly and grabbed his bag. "Yuu! Come on!"

* * *

"No Allen, you have to spread your legs a little more. I know you're good but come on, try little harder," Tyki grumbled behind the boards. He was getting impatient. Allen didn't concentrate on what he was doing. It was almost like he was completely different from Thursday. "Girl, come here!" Tyki yelled to Lenalee, who came to him with puzzled expression, "Look at him."

Lenalee turned his violet eyes towards Allen, just to see him fail the flutz and falling awkwardly. Only Lenalee was able to hear was "bloody hell" and painful moan. "He doesn't really seem like… normal?" she wondered, looking at Allen's expression.

Tyki rolled his eyes. "You don't say," he growled. Is this really the best skater in England? Give me a break, Tyki thought quietly.

Allen stayed put on the ice. He stared at his reflection from ice and cursed. Shit. He was able to skate just fine on Friday and Thursday, so why now? He got up, mind flashing back to the Saturday.

They were running down the stairs. It was dinner time. I stopped, Allen thought. He remembered staring at the picture. That must be the reason why Allen didn't feel right. There was something really odd about the picture and the feeling got stronger when he came to train.

"Allen! One more round," Tyki yelled and turned the music on. To his surprise, Allen did as told. It even looked like he was concentrating more now and getting into choreograph. He was playing around on ice and finally, it was beautiful. Tyki sighed quietly. Allen needed to be disciplined next time he didn't focus on his training.

Allen was right now concentrating on two different things, the picture and the dancing. He didn't want to let Tyki down, but he wanted to know what was so weird about that picture. When the music ended, Allen skated to the boards.

"Next time you should leave your personal bubble outside the rink."

Lenalee looked concerned when Tyki left. Tyki wasn't happy. "Allen? What's wrong? You don't really act like yourself."

Allen furrowed his eyebrows a little. How did Lenalee know how he usually acts? How would Tyki know that? He was getting a little sick of everyone. Allen needed space. "Lenalee, I appreciate your concern, but nothing is wrong," Allen told with cold tone, disappearing to the dressing rooms before Lenalee could say something.

"A-Allen!" Lenalee tried to follow him, but then the door was slammed to her face. Not literally, but almost. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

After a long trip to home, Allen had made his way to the picture. Why was the trip long? He had missed his bus stop twice after getting horribly lost. He should have asked Komui and Lenalee to take him home but he didn't have enough courage to ask… Not after what she said to Lenalee. But that wasn't something he was concentrating now.

In the picture, there was a boy around 12-14 years old, who was standing behind them. Really far from them, but if you looked closely, you could see him. He was staring to the camera with a creepy smile on his face. Allen's head started aching and he turned his head away from the picture. Who the hell was that boy? Why did he look somewhat familiar?

* * *

**A/N: I really hurried this chapter! D: I've been way too busy with my work but all I want to do is write. Small cliffhanger. Who do you think the boy at the background is? C: Thanks everyone for reviewing and everything, following, favoriting (not even a word!) and stuff! Now I will go to sleep. Good night! ^w^**


	4. I chose to trust you

**A/N: Okay, some people got really offended by my joke about Chinese people and eating dogs. I'm really sorry if I offended somebody by this, and the only reason I made that joke is because my godmother has experienced this in China. *bows* I'm deeply sorry for making a joke like this. On with the story.**

* * *

"Wow Allen, you look really tired," Lavi commented when Allen came to school on Monday morning. He had bags under his eyes for Christ's sake! Someone didn't sleep well on weekend. "Was Tyki harsh on you on Saturday?"

Allen stared at Lavi for a while and then averted his gaze somewhere else. "Kind of… little…" he murmured quietly, massaging his aching shoulders, "I'm okay though, don't worry."

Lavi didn't look convinced but walked with Allen for their first class. Something seemed to be really off. "Did something else happen? It's not like Tyki's training can make you look that miserable," Lavi continued poking the subject. It was hard to believe that Tyki would've done something inappropriate to Allen so soon. Usually he tries to get under someone's skin.

"Look, Lavi," Allen started and stopped in the half way, "it's none of your business really," he told Lavi with a polite tone, staring right into his eye. Allen wasn't in the mood right now. He was surprised when he didn't see any flick of emotion in Lavi's eye.

"You know what?" Lavi snapped at Allen. He was getting kind of pissed with his attitude by now. "I'm just trying to make you feel like you're welcome here and what do you do? Try to hide things that make you uncomfortable! I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong!"

Allen sighed, turning his back to the mass of people who were staring at them by now. Lavi was being too loud. "I swear, you don't want to get messed up with my problems. Stay out of it, okay? It's best for all of us."

Lavi realized too that people were staring at them. Talk about being uncomfortable on the first day at school for Allen. Shit. Lavi decided to lower his voice so that only Allen could hear him. "You don't know what is best for all of us. Everyone wants to know you for who you are, not the lies or fake smiles," he explained quietly, trying to get some kind of information out from Allen, "please?"

Allen's hear hammered in his chest and he took a deep breath. "Okay…" he decided, looking around warily. Allen had to ask Lavi something. "How… How long you've known Tyki? How much do you know about him? Has he ever been to England?"

Lavi stared at Allen in disbelief, but when he asked about England… this made Lavi silent. "You know what, maybe we should hit up after school and go somewhere quiet?" he suggested when people started to come closer to hear what they were talking about, "not just because of the people, but Tyki is a math teacher here…"

"Say what?" Allen paled, eyes darting around. Oh no. No. Okay, calm down Allen, he told himself and focused on looking at Lavi's face. "Ye-yes, uhm… Coffee and tea? Yes. After school? Okay. Will you stay with me on math class?" Allen asked from Lavi, now realizing how stupid he sounded. Lavi looked really confused by now. "Sorry about… not being so, I don't know?"

Lavi rolled his eyes and pushed Allen inside the class gently. "Just… get inside and act normal," he whispered, pointing at Tyki behind the desk, "you can sit next to me f it makes you feel better. But after this school day, you will tell what the hell is wrong with you."

Allen nodded, having hard time to swallow when he saw Tyki. His mind went back to the Sunday evening.

_Allen had to take another look at the picture, just to make sure. He was pretty sure, that the boy behind them was Tyki. He even took a magnifying glass! Only difference was that his skin seemed to be a little bit paler. He felt sick. He could be wrong too! I mean, there are a lot of doppelgangers, Allen tried to reason but in the end he had to empty his stomach at the toilet. For the rest of the night, he wasn't able to sleep._

And now he saw Tyki right in front of him, slamming a book onto his desk. Allen squeaked and slowly lifted his gaze to stare at Tyki's yellow eyes. The atmosphere was really heavy near these two men.

"Boy, I would suggest that you take down notes, Even if you are an honor student, you have to work for your grades," Tyki told Allen, giving a small glare at Lavi, who was currently eyeing him carefully, " , please take your legs off from the table. Would you please come to solve this problem to the board?"

Lavi smirked, glancing at Allen. He almost felt like doing it. "Maybe you should let our honor student try it out?" he asked, looking at Allen's even more pale face. That didn't look very healthy anymore. When he earned a hard glare from Tyki, he gave up. "Fine, fine. No one else isn't able to do it anyways."

Allen gave a small sigh of relief when Lavi went to the board and Tyki returned to his table. It was like a heavy rock had been lifted up, but it still was there and could crash down at any moment. When Lavi came back, Allen gave him his most terrifying glare he could ever do. This just made Lavi chuckle in amusement.

"You look like displeased puppy."

Allen didn't like Lavi's comment at all, so he turned his eyes towards the board. Taking down the notes, Allen realized that he didn't know any of the things they were going through. Not to mention, math was never really Allen's territory. "Shit," he cursed very quietly as Tyki came back with a bunch of papers, full of mathematical problems. Now Allen was plain confused. "Uhm, is this an exam?"

Tyki raised his eyebrow at Allen's question. "You haven't seen a test before? Don't be stupid. I just want to see how good you are."

Lavi peeked at Allen from the corner of his eye, feeling small feeling of pity inside of him. He saw from Allen's eyes that he had no idea what he was doing. When Tyki excused himself to pick up a phone, Lavi grabbed his test paper. "Chill out," Lavi said before Allen could say anything, "I'm gonna save your ass. Give me five minutes."

"Lavi!" Allen whispered loudly, staring at the test paper. Apparently most of his answers were wrong because he had to erase a lot. "I-I'm not really good at-"

"I noticed," Lavi answered quietly, giving back the sheet when he was done with it, "now you should be okay. But don't expect me to save your cute butt every time."

Allen blushed, thanking Lavi quietly. He just stared at the sheet full of solved problems. Lavi seemed like a smart guy for sure. To be honest, Allen didn't expect that. "Coffee is on me today then."

Lavi grinned from ear to ear when Tyki came back to grab his exam and return to his table. "Thanks Allen, because I'm running out of money," he commented, yawning a little. Then a cold sweat broke when he saw Tyki stare at him and the test sheet.

Allen also stared. What was the problem now?

"You know, only one person in this class uses these formulas to solve problems and it's Lavi," Tyki said to Allen when he saw his confused face. He grinned mischievously. "Allen, do you know what this formula is called?" Tyki asked.

"We're screwed," Lavi whispered to himself. If Allen didn't know, the game was over for them.

"I actually… forced Lavi to do this for me," Allen blurted out, the least he could do was to save Lavi from problems. Why did his first day in school had to start like this? Allen felt stressed out already. "Because math is the only subject I can't handle and-"

"And still you're an honor student? Don't make me laugh, boy," Tyki commented, crumbling the paper sheet with his hands. He was really starting to lose his edge with Allen. First he was acting weird at the ice rink, now he was cheating? What kind of a star they had in their class? Did he pay to get treated like this? Tyki didn't know. "That means you will have private lessons with me starting next week. Class dismissed."

Lavi looked at Allen with shocked face. Private lessons with Tyki? Hell no! "Why did you say something like that?!" Lavi yelled at him in disbelief. Yes, Allen did save his ass by saying that but… but… No, just no. "Never do that again. If we suffer, we will suffer together, okay? This isn't fair."

Allen just stared at Lavi. Life isn't fair. But Allen though it was fair for now. Lavi shouldn't have gotten a punishment from helping him out. It would've been terrible! It was a nice thought from Lavi, but unfortunately it had ended badly. He sighed quietly. "Well, at least I can learn math **privately **with Tyki starting next week and maybe I can actually learn something.

Lavi didn't like the sound of this. Allen and Tyki alone after school plus training together…? Tyki really wanted to get under Allen's skin. This might cause problems in the future, for sure. Then Lavi thought of something. "You know what Allen?" Lavi asked with a wide grin. Perhaps he could fix the situation at hand.

"What?" Allen mumbled as he packed his bag and started to move towards the hallway. They were the only ones left in the classroom.

"I can teach you math too," Lavi started his little speech, "if you can join me with your homework, I can teach you and you won't have to suffer in Tyki's hands for long. How does that sound?"

To Allen's ears, that offer sounded absolutely delicious. He was already creeped out by Tyki and he didn't want to spend any more time with him than necessary. "I'll take on that offer. When do we start?"

"On next week, so that I can see which one is the better teacher: me or Tyki", Lavi laughed, rushing out of the classroom, "come on beansprout, we'll be late!"

"Lavi! Wait for me!" Allen whined from behind, trying to keep up with the hyperactive bunny.

* * *

Later on the lunch break, Lavi took Allen to their own cafeteria. When boys had come into the cafeteria Allen could feel the stares from other people. He could hear them whispering something about freaks and scars. First thing Allen felt was nervousness, after that came sickness. "Lavi, maybe I should–"

"I know what you're thinking. It was same for me when I came here in the middle of semester, with an eyepatch. They will soon forget about it and you'll get more friends," Lavi tried to explain, but to his eyes, Allen didn't seem to get any better. He did have high self-esteem when he moved to Canada. "Relax, Allen," Lavi murmured, giving a tray full of food to Allen.

Allen gave Lavi a nervous nod, who once again, didn't seem convinced. How many people had a scar like this on their forehead? Probably only him. Same with white hair, but this time someone actually had a white hair too: old men and women. How depressing.

Both boys finally joined Lenalee, Kanda and Daisya at one table. Daisya nearly choked on his hamburger when he saw Allen. "What the hell, Lavi?! Why do you have Walker with ya!?"

The whole cafeteria fell into silence. Awkward, was all Allen could think of right now. Lavi didn't seem to mind it one bit though. The older teen sat down and motioned Allen to sit next to him. After that, the cafeteria became lively again.

"Talk about awkward," Lenalee smiled sweetly and sipped her apple juice. Not that she was surprised. The table where they always sat was for popular students, such as the four of them: Lenalee, Kanda, Daisya and Lavi. Lenalee glanced at Lavi. Even though Lavi was probably the most popular one. Her eyes travelled to Allen, who only poked his food with a fork. "Allen? Are you okay?"

Daisya just stared when Allen and Lenalee were having a small talk. "Since when have you started to be friends with this guy?" he asked quietly from Lavi. This was beyond weird in his opinion. "He is–"

"–not what you think he is," Lavi finished for Daisya, giving him a hard glare, "Allen is just like everyone else and really cool too. I was

given a chance too when I came here, so why not Allen too?" he asked so quietly that Allen wouldn't hear him, "you were given a chance too, Daisya. Everyone needs one and in my opinion, Allen need it more that anyone."

Daisya listened to Lavi's lecture quietly. He glanced at Allen who was currently arguing friendly with Kanda. Even Kanda was giving him a chance? Did they see something he didn't? With a small sigh, he offered his hand to Allen. "Daisya Barry."

Allen turned his attention from Kanda to Daisya. The whole cafeteria was silent again, waiting for Allen's reaction. He hesitated few seconds, but shook Daisya's hand softly. "Allen Walker."

Lavi approved this introduction and started to enjoy his meal. Now Allen just had to convince other students that he wasn't creepy. Lavi chuckled a little at his thoughts. "So, Daisya. Allen will join us on weekend. You are organizing my party so you can tell details to Allen."

"Details…?" Alle asked, "I only agreed to come–"

"That's all I needed," Lavi said, motioning Daisya to continue.

Daisya grinned. Lavi was genius when it came to getting more people in. Their parties were never completely normal. Maybe normal was weird to them. Maybe they should try normal parties sometimes. "We have a theme and you have to dress up depending on theme."

"You got to be kidding me," Allen cursed, waiting for Daisya to continue. As long as he didn't have to wear anything too embarrassing. Like girl's costumes.

"Because I planned that we will go to the beach, Lavi said that we will have a pirate theme. Lavi is the captain!" Daisya informed to Allen, waiting him to get excited.

Allen wasn't excited. He wanted to facepalm. Were they kids or something? But okay, he could manage with this theme just fine. "Anything else I **should** know?" Allen asked mildly annoyed, but still keeping up his polite act.

"Well…" Daisya and Lavi started cautiously, which made Allen fear the worst. Lavi decided that it was best if he could blame Daisya for this, even if the idea was his own. "The last one to tell that he or she is coming to our party has to dress like this," Lavi told, showing a picture from his phone.

"Ho-how short is that dress…?" Allen paled, hoping he wasn't the last one, "who exactly is the last one for now?" he continued, watching Daisya's pitying face. Oh hell no.

"You better start hoping that someone participates after you," Lavi whispered to Allen's ear, patting his back gently. Not that Lavi would mind checking out Allen's thighs. They got to be nice and trained after all. Like Lenalee's. Lavi grinned. He wasn't planning this, but his turned out better than okay.

Maybe this was fate.

Allen couldn't get his mind off from the dress he would have to wear on Saturday.

Fate wasn't on his side.

* * *

Rest of the school day went by quickly. Allen and Lavi had been paired in chemistry class and Lavi just had to drop some acid on his hair: now that they were sitting in a coffee house, Lavi was still depressed because of his hair. "My hair is ruined," he wailed as the waitress brought their orders.

"Lavi, it was only few strands of hair. It doesn't even look different," Allen reassured as he sipped his tea. This time Allen didn't want to eat anything. He didn't want to lose his appetite because of their upcoming conversation.

Lavi recovered pretty soon after hearing Allen's reassuring words. Now they had to get back to their real reason being in here and that was Tyki Mikk. "So, why do you want to know about that bastard?"

Allen took a deep breath. He had promised to Lavi and Allen didn't like to break promises. The silence was killing both of the boys. Allen still wasn't sure. But finally he took a crumbled picture from his bag. "I was about to throw this away," he said, giving the picture to the red-head. It didn't take long for Lavi to recognize it.

"Why? It has such a nice feeling to it," Lavi asked until Allen pointed to the background. Lavi's idea about the picture changed in mere seconds. "This is like a horror movie, Allen…" he cringed, staring at the small boy in the background. Okay, so this is why Allen freaked out by Tyki. Understandable. Lavi was able to recognize him easily. "I've seen pictures of Tyki when he was younger and I must say, this is without a doubt, Tyki Mikk. He used to live few years in England but twelve years ago, he moved here."

Allen started to feel light-headed. "Did he tell you the reason why?" he asked, trying to keep his calm. It could just be a coincidence.

"Hmmm… He didn't want to talk about it, just like you."

Allen fell into silence. Twelve years ago. He felt Lavi's intense stare on him and waited him to drop the bomb – more like a question. But it never came.

"Whatever happened in England," Lavi said, touching Allen's hand with his fingertips to get his attention. He didn't quite know how to place his words correctly. He didn't Allen to freak out again. "You don't have to tell. But I know that I can help you. I don't know what happened but I guess it took a lot of damage inside your mind and probably on your body too. You're safe in here, you have people around you, Allen."

Allen felt warm. Lavi was bit by bit proving to be a good friend. But did Allen trust him already? Maybe he could place some trust on Lavi. Little by little, piece by piece. "Thank you," he smiled, not even feeling like it would be a fake one, "what would you want to know?" Allen asked, nervousness building up again. If Lavi really could help out on this one, maybe he'd be able to sleep at nights.

Lavi looked at Allen's genuine smile and it made him smile too. Allen trusted him. He gave Lavi a permission to ask. "So… If you won't freak out now, I would like to know what happened twelve years ago, from your point of view. What happened to your father?"

The boy in front of Lavi grew uncomfortable. His stomach was turning upside down just thinking what happened. He didn't know how to start. Allen wasn't sure what he should tell. Lavi seemed to be patient though, having a understanding look on his one eye. After half an hour of silence, Allen spoke.

"I was adopted when I was four years old. I used to live in orphanage," Allen told to Lavi with a shaky breath. There was a pause that lasted for few minutes. "That was thirteen years ago."

Lavi stared at the table. He didn't want to stare Allen. Still, Lavi was listening to his every word. It must be tough to talk about painful things – Lavi knew.

"I was adopted by a man, named Mana. I was given a name "Allen" from him. We spent a year together, I got friends, I realized that I loved skating on ice, I had a father… But then," Allen said trying to keep his tears inside. He never quite understood why he was telling all this to Lavi. Did Lavi even care? Did he want to tell everyone about his past? What was Lavi's goal? And what is mine, Allen thought in his head, feeling a warm hand grabbing his own. Lavi was squeezing his hand. Allen felt oddly good about that small squeeze and did the same back. It gave him power to continue.

"It was late night. I was walking home with Narain and Mana. I didn't know they had followed us…"

"Who had followed you, Allen?" Lavi asked immediately. This could be very important piece of information and he would not let it slide like that. When Lavi heard the name of "Noah" escaping from Allen's lips, he drew his hand away. That was the mark on his forehead! Lavi bit his tongue.

Allen stared at Lavi's reaction. Was the story-time over? When Lavi had finally recovered from his shock, it was his turn to speak. "Allen… The Noah Family is one of the most dangerous gangs in the world. How badly did you mess up?"

Allen didn't answer anything to Lavi's question. "They killed Mana. I don't know what happened to Narain. He disappeared," he continued, closing his eyes from the painful and ugly memories, "Mana didn't deserve it. I can't forget the smell, I can't forget the missing body parts. I can't!" Allen finally broke down and covered his face with hands, "I see nightmares, Lavi. My past is the nightmare. I wish I could just forget."

Lavi cringed at Allen's mental breakdown and scooted next to him with his chair. He didn't say anything, just wrapped his hands around Allen and hugged him. He could feel the stares of people in the coffee house. "I'll take you home, okay?"

Allen nodded, feeling too weak to even say anything anymore.

He had said too much.

* * *

**A/N: And that was the end of this chapter. A little bit of Allen's past. What could Lavi be hiding? Odd reaction from Noah, right? Hopefully this chapter didn't offend anyone: I'm still very sorry about the last chapter. **

**Thank you for reviews. They warm up my heart. 3**


	5. We are connected

It had taken two hours to get Allen calm down and fall asleep. In the end Lavi had brought him to his and Kanda's house. He didn't think it was a good idea to leave Allen alone after all he had told. Lavi was sitting on his bed, next to Allen now. Maybe he should eat something. "Oh yeah…" he murmured and got up from the bed. He searched Allen's back for the house key. Timcanpy probably needed something. Food, maybe a small walk? Then he could bring the puppy here. Excellent idea.

Lavi got out from the room very quietly and saw Kanda staring right into his eye. "What happened?" he demanded in low voice, nodding his head towards the sleeping figure on Lavi's bed. Kanda averted his eyes quickly. Not that he was worried or anything.

Lavi's head started to make up all kinds of lies. Allen wouldn't probably appreciate if he told Kanda about his past. But in the end, Lavi couldn't make up any. All he was able to think was Allen's description about the smell and body parts. "His past happened," he whispered, closing the door behind him, "I think it would be best if none of us pried him about it anymore."

"I don't care," Kanda finally said, walking away from Lavi, "just make sure he doesn't snore too loudly at night."

"Will do," Lavi agreed, rushing to the Allen's house now. Timcanpy needed to have a pee break and then food. Maybe he'd cook something for him and the puppy. As Lavi got Allen's door open, he looked around suspiciously. He wasn't sure anymore if Allen was safe or not, so it would be better to look around first.

When the tour around Allen's house had come to end, Lavi sighed in relief. Timcanpy was alright and everything seemed to be okay. Lavi didn't get from Allen what he needed though. He still didn't know if Allen was still targeted by Noah. But he wouldn't join an ice-skating team if he was, right? Lavi went out with Timcanpy in a leash. He made sure he looked the door and everything was fine. Wouldn't want Allen's stuff to be stolen.

Lavi took a small walk around the neighborhood, thinking about his own past. He raised his hand to touch his eyepatch. They were connected. He and Allen. In his thoughts, Lavi almost bumped into Lenalee. "Ah, sorry Lenalady!"

Lenalee touched Lavi's arm with a firm grip. "Kanda told me," she said with a soft smile, picking up Timcanpy from the ground. They were near Lavi's house already. "I understand that Allen has to tell us by himself but…"

"Glad you understand," Lavi sighed heavily and slowing his pace. He was glancing at the night sky. "I pried too much. That's why this happened. I should've been more considerate. I should know better than that, Lenalee."

"Lavi, don't blame yourself. Allen chose to trust you," Lenalee said, kissing Tim's nose gently. She didn't quite know what to say. "We are all his friends. We are his shield if something bad happens. We will make his day brighter if he is feeling down. So tomorrow we will do our best to make him smile."

Lavi gave a small kiss on Lenalee's cheek. Lenalee was like his little sister, but sometimes it felt like the other way around. "Want to come in?" he asked from the girl, who nodded, "I will cook something."

When Lavi and Lenalee had gotten inside, Lenalee let Timcanpy to run around their house. "Should I go see how Allen is doing?" Lenalee asked after Lavi had disappeared into the kitchen. She was really worried.

"Yeah, just go in really quietly if he's still sleeping," Lavi instructed from the kitchen. He wouldn't want to experience the horror of Allen's dead eyes again. Just in case, Lavi started preparing chicken soup. It usually makes you feel better. If Allen was awake, he could come eat.

Lenalee tiptoed to Lavi's bedroom, and saw Allen sitting on his bed. He was staring at his hands, not saying anything. "Allen?" Lenalee whispered carefully, sitting next to him, "how are you feeling?"

After a while Allen lift his gaze to meet Lenalee's eyes. He felt miserable. Lavi had to bring him here. "I should go home," was all Allen said to Lenalee. Timcanpy needed to be taken care of and Cross had sent him bills today morning. "Tim needs care."

"No. You're staying here," Lenalee said with a stern voice, putting her hand over Allen's hands. She took a deep breath and squeezed Allen's hands gently. "Lavi took care of Timcanpy. He's here with us now so that you can rest here. Lavi is making something to eat. Would you like me to bring something for you?"

Allen was surprised by Lenalee's strict voice. He didn't dare to go against her either. "I'm not feeling hungry," Allen whispered as he laid back to the bed. He pulled covers over his head, pushing Lenalee out of his personal bubble.

Lenalee looked at the mess of sheets beside her and got up. "I'll tell Lavi… Good night, Allen. See you tomorrow," she said gently, patting Allen through the covers. Then she went out of the door with a deep sigh. Lenalee walked into the kitchen and plopped to sit on a chair. "Allen was awake. He didn't want anything to eat."

"I will bring him some later anyways," Lavi said from the stove, "how was he?"

"Bad," Lenalee said truthfully. She brushed some bangs away from her eyes. "I didn't really know that… people can get so overwhelmed by their past. I always thought my past was something I wanted to forget but… Allen must've had it rough."

Lavi turned around to look at Lenalee. She was sad. Lavi smiled happily and sat next to Lenalee. "He will get better. I bet Allen just hasn't talked about it to anyone. And now that he finally let it out, it took a toll on him. He can learn to live with the past. I think he already know how to live with it, but he needs to learn to look at it from different angle," Lavi explained with his knowledge. Not that he knew how to think different about a dead foster father or missing old friend. "Is Komui still working with the police?"

Lenalee's curiosity picked up at Lavi's words. Police? Why would he ask something like that? Unless it was something that had to do with Allen. "Yeah… He is working in the department that investigates the old cases. Which are shady or doesn't have enough evidence," Lenalee told, deciding not to pry about it too much. Lavi would tell if he wanted to.

"Thanks," Lavi grinned, poking Lenalee's cheek. He would have to pay Komui a visit later on this week. He should talk about it with Allen too. "Go help yourself. I'll check what I can prepare for Tim."

Lenalee jumped up from her chair and took a bowl of chicken soup. "Lavi?" Lenalee asked after some silence. Lavi was currently giving sausages to Timcanpy who seemed to own his Master's stomach.

"Mmmhm?" Lavi hummed for her questioning voice.

"Do you think it is right for Allen to wear that dress? He's new and all," Lenalee said while eating her soup. She had thought about it all day and she couldn't get her mind off of it. "It won't do any good to his reputation."

Lavi was thinking about Allen in that dress and he was holding back his nosebleed. Why did Lenalee question something like that? Allen would look great. "Lenalady, I think Allen will be more popular after that. You know, balls of steel. What does it tell about Yuu?"

Lenalee snickered a little. True, Kanda was the first one to inform that he will participate. Not that anyone would be able to make Kanda wear anything like that. There was no way. "I hope you're right about that."

Meanwhile in Lavi's bedroom, Allen was still buried under the sheets. He heard faint talking from the kitchen. "We have thin walls in these houses…" he murmured quietly, happy that he had realized it. Not too much privacy then if something comes along to his bedroom… except his bedroom was in upstairs; Lavi's room was in downstairs. Allen sighed, at least he was thinking something else than his little outburst to Lavi. Finally Allen got up from the bed. He lit up the room and inspected himself from the mirror. Good, he didn't look like he had cried his eyes out anymore.

Allen got out from the bedroom quietly, and peeked inside the kitchen. Timcanpy was eating sausages and Lenalee and Lavi were laughing at the table. Lavi soon realized that Allen had gotten up from the bed. "Aaaaah, Alleeeen. Would you like to eat something?"

"I-if that's okay… I'd like some," Allen answered to Lavi quietly. He remembered being here on the first night, eating milk and cookies. It didn't feel awkward. Why? Because Lenalee wasn't giving a concerned stare and Lavi didn't know anything about him. "I-I'll go home after, if that's okay? Thank you for everything an–"

Lavi poked Allen's forehead and gave him a bowl of soup. "Shut up beansprout. You will sleep in my room and I will go to the guest room. Or the other way around. I'd rather have you here today. Tim is here too so there is no need to go home right now."

"I don't need babysitting, Lavi," Allen whispered to Lavi, so that Lenalee wouldn't hear. Was Lavi that scared of Noah that he made him sleep here? Or was there another reason he wasn't aware of? Allen pouted. "How the hell did you get into my house anyways? And my name is Allen."

Lavi grinned at his cleverness. "I borrowed your key, went inside, took Timcanpy and locked the house."

Allen sighed. Of course. He took out his hand for the key. "The key, please."

"Oh yeah, right," Lavi said, fumbling his pockets. Shit. He paled and looked at Allen with a nervous smile. "I think… that I forgot the key in your kitchen when I was searching for Tim…" he said, with a small laugh. Well, shit happens. "Sorry!"

Lenalee's eyes widened. How was Allen going to get inside tomorrow? Good thing was that his school bag was here, but not spare clothes. "Lavi!" she scolded the boy for his actions. Lavi's intention was good, but… well, at least the door was locked. No one could get inside.

Allen wasn't even surprised. For the few days he had known Lavi, this was something to be expected. He ate his food in silence. "I hope you can pick locks or else I have to ask for a lock smith. And I will have to pay it, and it's expensive. And I don't have much money because… Because…"

Lavi grew silent. Because of his dead father…

"– that damn Cross Marian…" Allen cursed under his breath, slamming his fist on table, "son of a money sucker…"

Okay, now Lavi was confused. Cross Marian? Who was that? Lavi inspected Allen's features and took some distance. Allen was scary. It was like he was emitting a black aura. Dark Allen? Definitely. What happened to his innocence?! Lavi gulped. "He-hey, Allen… Yo-you're really scary…"

Allen snapped out and turned his gaze at his terrified friends. "Oh… Sorry about that. Cross is my guardian," he told Lavi, not paying attention to Lenalee right now. She wouldn't understand anyways. "He drinks and gambles all his money and then sends his bills to me. And I have to call him Master…"

"But he is in England now?" Lavi confirmed.

"Oh, I don't know," Allen sighed, slamming his head onto table, "I never know where he is but somehow he always ends up finding me and sending me all his bills. You probably saw them at the kitchen table…"

Lavi cringed a little. Now that he mentioned, there was a pile of bills addressed to "Stupid apprentice" from "Your master". Personally Lavi had thought that it was some kind of kinky fantasy Allen had but apparently no. "Not that I was sneaking around or anything!"

Lenalee giggled to the boys in front of her. They were so adorable. Maybe Lavi had finally found a good friend he could rely on. "I have to go now so that my big brother won't flip his coffee. Allen, we have to go train after school on Saturday so we will go after that straight to the beach. Okay? We will change clothes at Lavi's place because… He has your dress."

"Don't remind me, Lenalee," Allen groaned and lifted his head from the table. That dress was way too short. What was Lavi fantasizing about? Hopefully it would even look good on me, Allen thought darkly. He didn't really like attention and that dress will draw attention, a lot. "See you tomorrow Lenalee."

"Bye bye!" Lenalee waved from the hallway and soon disappeared from the house. There was a long silence. Kanda was probably already sleeping.

Lavi looked at Allen and nudged him gently. "How are you feeling?" he asked when it was finally silent. Maybe things were easier now that Lenalee wasn't here.

"I'll survive," Allen smiled at Lavi's concern. How silly. "What about you?" he asked quietly, staring at his empty bowl of soup, "your reaction of Noah…"

Lavi turned to look at a recipe book on his table. "It's a long story. Similar to yours," he said, not wanting to look at Allen, "but it's in the past now. I don't have a need to talk about it. It doesn't bother me anymore. I've abandoned that life. I changed my name, everything."

Allen was silent now. But the silence between the boys wasn't awkward. It felt oddly good, and it wasn't pressuring. "So… Uh…" Allen tried to break the silence somehow. Even if it wasn't awkward, he had a need to talk about something. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"My brother disappeared the same way as your friend did," Lavi said, turning to look at Allen. He deserved to know some bits of his past too. "They're still after me. The Noah. When I was a kid, I used to dye my hair black all the time because we knew that we were targeted," Lavi took his eyepatch off and closed his covered eye.

Allen's breath hitched in his throat. Over Lavi's eyelid… he had the same pentacle. So this happened to Lavi before Allen? They were both marked. "So this is your disguise?" he asked from the man. "You changed your name… appearance…"

Lavi put his eyepatch back on and nodded. "Old Panda told me it was for the best. To erase everything. Start a new life," Lavi explained with a sad tone, "that also means that I shouldn't have any tight bonds with anyone because someday I might have to leave again."

Allen felt bad. He had talked to Lavi without realizing. Did anyone else know? "You know what Lavi? I could be one of the Noah. You don't even know me that good, yet you're spilling your guts out."

"If that's true, you're pretty damn good actor," Lavi grinned and ruffled Allen's hair, "I could be one too. But… Did you change your name?" he asked from Allen. If they were both chased down, and Allen had a visible scar this could mean trouble for both of them.

"I should be okay," Allen told Lavi, trying to reassure him. He wouldn't bring Lavi any trouble. Hopefully. "Mana was their target, not me. Narain… I don't know about Narain. But when they made the mark for me, it wasn't to make me noticeable if needed. It was from sheer pleasure the girl got from doing it. The older boy even said that it wasn't necessary to do that."

"So…" Lavi murmured quietly, looking a Allen. There were two people at the murder scene? He sighed quietly. "Maybe it's best if we don't start to solve these crimes… It's not like we could get the Noah to bow down on their knees when the police has enough evidence," he told Allen, who looked puzzled. Oh yeah, he had thought about it on his own. "Yeah? It crossed my mind. It's too bad… that the Noah is good at hiding the evidence."

"Not to mention it was twelve years ago since my case… and even more when it comes to you."

Lavi could only hang his head low. Change the topic, Lavi thought. "Do you want to see my old pictures? I have some funny ones if you'd like to see. I travelled a lot as a kid with my grandpa."

Allen smiled at Lavi's effort to change the atmosphere. "I think we should go to sleep. Look at the time. We can do that some other time. I think I have embarrassing pictures about me too."

"Oh… right," Lavi said and went to show Allen his room, "or would you prefer sleeping with me?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in suggestive way. Allen's face was priceless.

"NO THIS IS TOTALLLY OKAY GOOD NIGHT SIR," Allen quickly said, locking himself inside the guest room with Timcanpy. He was blushing all the way, down to his neck. Now he felt uncomfortable.

"I was just joking, Allen!" Lavi said through the door, unable to hold down his laugh. Not that he would've minded having company in his bed. This made Lavi laugh even more. "Good night, Allen."

"Good night, Lavi."

* * *

Lavi woke up in the middle of night for some reason. The moon was shining and the open window brought in cold breeze. He closed his eyes and laid back in the bed. He turned around to look at the white-haired boy sleeping next to him. "Silly Allen," Lavi whispered, leaning down to kiss his neck. Oh how long he had wanted to do that.

Allen mumbled in his sleep, opening his eyes to look at Lavi. "Mmh?" he murmured sleepily. "Lavi?" he asked hoarsely, moaning as Lavi bit his neck, "Aaa… What are you doing?"

Lavi silenced Allen with a passionate kiss. Moans that Allen let out were like music to Lavi. Allen couldn't do anything else but answer the kiss, trying to compete with domination. He soon lost when Lavi rolled over him, pushing him harshly to the mattress. "Be a nice angel now," Lavi whispered, ravishing Allen's neck with all he got.

"Shit…" Allen whimpered, closing his eyes from the pleasure. Don't stop, was all that Allen was able to think right now.

As Lavi felt a knee pushed gently to his manhood, he could only bite down again. "God, Allen…"

And so the clothes were thrown to the floor and night never seemed to end.

* * *

Lavi jumped up on his bed with wide eyes, sweat rolling down his spine. He took a blanket off of him and stared between his legs. Lavi looked around. Just a dream. But now his underwear had gotten dirty. The red-haired boy sighed heavily. Why did he had to see a wet dream from Allen? He barely even knew him. "Shit… shit… shit!" Lavi cursed and proceeded to his wardrobe for clean underwear. How could he look at Allen in the morning? What should he say? Jeez. "Sorry, but I hope you're not bothered if I see wet dreams about you?" he asked himself with confusion. Wait, did Lavi mind having a dream like that? About Allen?

Lavi jumped up once again when he heard a knock from the door. "Lavi? Are you okay?" a soft voice asked behind the door, "I heard you yelling my name and… it was like you were having a nightmare…"

"Shit!" Lavi said for the fourth time already. Did Kanda hear too? Good thing he slept in upstairs. Why did Allen have to sleep right next to his room? Why did he had to see that dream today? And no, that wasn't a nightmare. Quite the opposite. "Ye-yeah, I'm okay. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."

"Actually… I haven't slept," Allen said and right at that moment, Lavi had opened his door for Allen. The smaller boy turned his gaze away from Lavi's bare chest. It was nicely toned. What did you expect from a hockey player?

"You're gonna get sick if you don't sleep," Lavi complained, not forgetting about the dream he had just few seconds ago. All he could do was take in Allen's appearance in Lavi's oversized pajamas. Lavi gulped. Too bad Allen didn't do one-night stands. "U-uhm…" he stuttered, cursing his tongue. Don't stutter!

Allen looked back at Lavi, who was currently looking at him with a slight… daze, maybe? That must've been a bad nightmare. "Do you want me to come in or…?"

Lavi's jaw almost dropped at Allen's question. Did he want an awkward boner? Not when Allen is here. What to do? What to say? Lavi was in loss of words. This maneater couldn't do anything in this situation. "If you'd like to…" he murmured, letting Allen in.

"It's quite warm in here," Allen commented and sat on Lavi's bed. He looked at Lavi's terrified look. "What's wrong?"

"No-nothing!" Lavi all but yelled and took his covers off from the bed. There was a stain from earlier. "I can open the window–"

Allen took the bottom of his pajama away. Damn those legs, Lavi thought and just stared. "No need if you feel cold," Allen smiled sweetly, laying down to the mattress. Why did Lavi take off the covers? That was just weird. "Are you sure that you're okay…?"

Lavi opened the window anyways. Fresh air, fresh air. "Yeah… It's just…" he murmured, looking at Allen's legs again. How could they be so good-looking? Allen was a boy! Lavi had to cough before he would experience some nosebleed. "You're uhm…"

Allen tilted his head. He got up from the bed and walked in front of Lavi. Allen touched Lavi's warm forehead with his cold hand. Nah, it was just a little clammy, probably from the sweat. "What I am?" he asked with amusement. Lavi was being silly. Allen was surprised when he felt arms around himself. He almost tried to get away, but Lavi hugged him tighter. Allen was able to feel Lavi's fast heartbeat. He didn't quite know what to do, so he just let Lavi hug him. He never had friends, except Narain. They didn't hug a lot. Maybe this was what friends are supposed to do? Allen hugged Lavi back.

Lavi didn't know what he was doing. He just acted on his own. Like he was drunk. Maybe Lavi needed a hug and body acted on its own. He and Allen had similar past, so that's why he had that dream, right? It took impact on both. Probably. "Thank you, Allen."

"Thank you, Lavi."

* * *

The week went by quickly. The lock smith came and took care of Allen's door. Lavi and Lenalee had decided to pay for it, and it had made a huge fight. Allen didn't want them to pay for it, but in the end he had lost to his two friends. Well, it just meant that he could save his money and that was a good thing.

After the night Allen spent at Lavi's place, things started to go a bit smoother. Allen talked more, laughed more and got acknowledgment at school. Lavi was right, people will soon forget about that Allen looks a little weird to others. Often Allen and Lavi would go to grab a coffee after school. It had been nice week for Allen.

But even the nicest weeks had to come to an end. Because it was time to face the Saturday.

"I'm so going to die," Allen whispered as he woke up in the Saturday morning. First he needed to go through Tyki's torment and after that he would have to wear a frigging dress. A dress! Allen groaned and turned to look at Timcanpy. "You're growing so fast," Allen murmured, getting up from his bed. "3… 2… 1…" Allen counted out loud.

"AAALLEEEN! Open the door!"

"In a minute!" Allen yelled from the open window. He dressed up quickly and hurried to the door. This was usually their routine. Lavi would come few minutes after Allen had woken up, sometimes when he was still sleeping. Lavi would make him a breakfast because… well, let's say that Allen wasn't the best cook. He could mix something, but it wasn't exactly healthy. Allen opened the door for Lavi. "This is like your second home, huh?"

Lavi grinned from ear to ear. "Yup! Is pancakes okay for you?" he asked as he travelled to the kitchen. This time he had already cooked at his place, so the meal was ready.

"Hey, wait up, stupid rabbit," Allen sighed as he followed Lavi into the kitchen, "Happy birthday!" he smiled and gave Lavi his present. He didn't exactly know what Lavi liked, but these were the only things he could think of.

Lavi opened his present. "Woah! Allen! How did you know that I wanted this book?" he beamed as he read the title. It was one of the hardest books to get from Canada. The Kalevala. The first copy of the book. It's epic poetry from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. "Is this… is this…?"

"The first translated copy that is still intact," Allen smiled at Lavi, who seemed to hold the book like it was his most precious treasure, "it's actually Mana's old. He travelled a lot when he was younger and liked reading too. Especially the old books."

Lavi was even more touched now. Allen gave something from Mana. Oh, and there was a new bandanna for his hair too. "Thanks a lot Allen… this is… Too much. When is your birthday?"

"I don't know," Allen said like it was nothing, shrugging his shoulders. He only knew the year he was born. "I don't know the real date, but Mana used the day when I was adopted."

"And that date is…?"

"25th of December," Allen told Lavi, who smiled happily, "I never celebrated so don't expect me to go with your plans. No parties. I will go to England for Christmas. Visit Mana's grave."

Lavi looked at Allen. He was so sincere. All he could do was admire him. How he managed to be so strong, Lavi didn't know. "So you won't be here on Christmas?" he asked, little disappointed. Too bad. He would've invited Allen to eat with his grandfather, Kanda and Lenalee. Maybe Komui will join too. And Anita. Tyki was there two or three years ago too.

"Not on 24th or 25th," Allen told Lavi, sitting next to him. Now he was devouring the pancakes. These were so good!

"No!" Lavi whined desperately, "Why do you have to go for Christmas? It will be the Christmas eve when friends and families are together and next day is your birthday! You can't leave."

"First of all: I don't have a family," Allen reasoned, pointing Lavi with his fork, "Second, I won't intrude you or anyone else. You have Bookman, Kanda has his step brother, and Lenalee has his brother… Oh, and Cross will be drinking the whole Christmas. And third, Mana died on 25th. I can't exactly not go to visit him. And tell him about my new friends."

Lavi groaned in frustration. "But there are those different gravestones here where you can go put a candle and send your blessings. Mana will still hear them," he tried to bribe Allen. Well, he did have six months left to turn Allen's mind on this one.

"It's not the same," Allen spat at Lavi. God he was so thick-skulled. "It's not even Christmas so stop worrying about it. Just enjoy your birthday."

Lavi huffed, and jumped a little when the doorbell rang. "Who's that?"

Allen stared at Lavi, shrugging his shoulders. "Wait here," he told, walking to the door. Allen opened it, staring at tanned man eye to eye. "Tyki. What gives me the pleasure?" he asked from the Portuguese man. Allen still wasn't sure if he was with Noah or not, so it was better to keep the distance.

Tyki looked inside curiously. "I thought about taking you for a breakfast before training," he said, not even surprised when Lavi came to Allen's side with a bitter look. Apparently Allen had already eaten if his old "woman" was in here. "I take that as a no?" he asked from Allen, who didn't seem to be happy either.

"I think it's not good idea, . We are a student and a teacher after all. Just training together is already bad enough," Allen said to Tyki's offer politely. But that was true too, if this goes to principal Klaud Nine's ears… not anyone would be safe anymore. Not even Allen's title as an honor student.

"Can I come in then? I will take you to the rink… Lavi has to organize his party with Daisya, right?"

Allen cursed his luck, motioning Tyki to come in. This was going to be really awkward morning.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter four! I mean five! I don't even know anymore. The party will be on next chapter. Is this the longest chappy so far? I think so. Is this too fast-paced? Tell me. Thanks for reviewing all. **


	6. I can learn from you

**A/N**: **Before I start the chapter… I'm really bad at describing dresses in English. Let's face it. You can just google "Spanish pirate dress" and the first red ones are the ones I'm trying to get here. Okay? XD**

* * *

"So how did you find out where I live?" Allen asked from Tyki as they had settled into the kitchen. Lavi and Allen shared looks of suspiciousness. That was a really good question.

Tyki stared at Allen like he was dumb. "As a teacher of the school, I can access the information easily," he said shrugging his shoulders. He eyed the boys carefully. Why did they stare him like that? He coughed a little. This was weird. "Did I interrupt or something? Is there something on my face?"

"Yeah, you could drop that lustful look you give to Allen every time you see him," Lavi spat at Tyki, glaring him. He would protect Allen from Tyki. Too bad he needed to go soon. If Tyki was with Noah, it could mean trouble. Big time.

"Oh? I don't think I'm the only one who should stop doing that Bookman Jr.," Tyki said, running a hand through his hair. Like no one else saw it. After Monday Lavi had been almost drooling after Allen, who was completely clueless about everything.

Allen didn't quite know what to say. These two young men were off for blood. "Why don't we all just calm down?" Allen laughed nervously, patting Lavi's shoulder. I'll be fine, Allen thought quietly, hoping that Lavi would be able to read his mind. Unfortunate for Allen, Lavi read it completely wrong.

Lavi looked at Allen. This probably means he can't handle Tyki on his own, Lavi thought and turned his gaze at Tyki. To him, Tyki looked quite harmless. Maybe it was just a doppelganger. But if Allen didn't feel okay about this… "You know, I can text Daisya that I'll take Allen to the rink and come after."

Allen paled. No. That would start a war between the two boys and Lavi should try to keep low profile here. "NO! I mean… It's okay. Tyki is my teacher so it should be okay."

Tyki raised his eyebrow. This was pretty amusing. What got those two so worked up about him? It had been like that since last weekend.

Lavi winked his eye to Allen, or tried to make him realize it was a wink. Good act Allen, Lavi thought. Allen was trying to refuse to make it seem like he didn't hate Tyki. Now they didn't seem too suspicious. "No, no. I think it's better if you come with me. It's not good if Tyki gets caught for transporting a student from place A to place B."

Allen just stared at Lavi. Did he think this was some kind of act? Or a joke? Okay, now things started to get really awkward. Silence had fallen. Crap. Think Allen, think. "The reason why I've been avoiding Tyki lately is because… because…"

"You're in love with him?" Lavi breathed dramatically. This was a great plan.

"Ye-yes?" Allen asked more or less confused.

Tyki's eyes widened.

Then Lavi's plan started to backfire him. If Allen tells Tyki he loves him, Tyki will try to do something. And if in that point Allen refuses. Shit. Dead end. Lavi turned his concerned stare to Allen, who seemed to realize their plan too. Well for sure, Allen didn't look too good. They needed to come up with another excuse.

Tyki grinned, scooting closer to Allen. Oh, he knew what it was all about. Maybe Lavi just hated him for their old relationship and now he wanted to get revenge, using Allen as bait. Sure, he'll play along. "Well, kitten," he whispered to Allen's ear, running a hand on his thigh, "I think we both know that the feeling is quite the same."

Lavi couldn't tear his eyes off from Tyki's hands that were now resting on Allen's thighs. Those perfect, milky white thighs. He gritted his teeth. I could've done that too, Lavi cursed in his mind. But priority was to save Allen from this pinch now. "Bu-but Allen…"

Allen tried to fight against his will to push Tyki off. This was Lavi's fault for blurting out something like that. "Ye-yes, Lavi?" he almost moaned when Tyki nibbled his ear. Tyki wasn't ashamed to show public display of affection, apparently. And his ear virginity got just taken!

"But I love you too!" Lavi wailed dramatically, falling to his knees. He tried to fake tears as good as he could. Just think about that ear that got just assaulted, and cry, Lavi thought, wailing miserably on the floor. "I thought we had something."

Tyki tried to hold in his need to laugh. They were the worst actors in the world. Tyki lifted Allen to his lap. "Sorry bunny, but this time, I claim the prize."

Allen looked at Lavi. "I-I didn't know you loved me! So instead… I started to look up for Tyki…"

Okay, that would've hurt Tyki if he knew that his words were true and this wasn't just an act. But now this was just amusing. "Why don't you kiss then?" he asked, tilting his head. Lavi's and Allen's faces were hilarious. He was sure that Allen would soon faint from the distress and Lavi would faint from his fantasy about Allen.

"I-I don't want to kiss anyone in front of someone. It's embarrassing," Allen glared Tyki. Lavi was his friend! Friends don't share romantic kisses with each other. How dumb was Tyki?

Now it was Lavi's turn to be disappointed. This was once in a lifetime chance to have a kiss from Allen! But then again, maybe I would be Allen's first kiss? This made Lavi think again. He was never much of a fan of emotions but Allen seemed to treasure loads of things. So Lavi walked over to Allen, pecking his lips quickly. Just a quick and friendly kiss. "Is that enough of PDA for you, Mikk?"

Allen was about to faint by now. Too… much… touching. It was like sexual harassment. "E-excuse me!" Allen finally said, smacking first Tyki and then Lavi. His heart was beating fast, not from sappy and happy emotions books usually describe when something like this happens. It was pure fear. When Lavi tried to come near Allen, all he said was: "Don't," and he disappeared from the kitchen.

Tyki looked after Allen. He didn't even budge when Lavi slammed his fist on the table loudly. "Mikk… I swear, was this your goal?!" he growled at the man in front of him. Tyki was good at reading people. He must've noticed it before, that Allen doesn't like to be touched. He was training with him for Christ's sake! Yet, he had to pull an act like this?

"It was your own fault, Bookman Jr. Allen was just trying not to make a big fuss about me taking him to the trainings. You begged for this."

Lavi fell silent, thinking what happened before all this. Maybe… Allen tried to say he will be okay? And he blew it. They made even bigger mess now – or Lavi did. "I have to go now. If I hear that you've done something to Allen while I'm not here…"

Tyki sighed, feeling too tired to argue about this with that stupid rabbit. "He will be at your party in time, untouched. Sound good?" he asked, trying to be nice for once.

Lavi was surprised by the answer, but nodded nonetheless. "Thanks," he said, spinning around to look for Allen. He should apologize first. Lavi stopped at Allen's bedroom door, when he heard noises from there. "Allen?"

Allen's heart stopped for a minute but he tried to calm himself. When Lavi said he has to go, Allen was at the door quicker than a rabbit. "Don't go," Allen said suddenly, grabbing Lavi's wrist in slight panic.

Lavi kneeled down to Allen's level to meet his eyes properly. He was scared. Allen was shaking. "Allen," Lavi said quietly, taking Allen's hand away from his wrist. He didn't quite know how to act now. If he hugged Allen, he might freak out again. Keep distance and reassure? Yeah. "I will slaughter Tyki if he does something to you. We will see in three hours. Lenalee is with you at the rink. You're safe."

Allen closed his eyes and breathed in, and out. When he opened his eyes, Lavi was gone. Right, he didn't have time to panic now. Lavi was right. Everything would be okay. When Allen got downstairs, he met Tyki's eyes with uncertainty. Allen was surprised when Tyki was waiting for him at the door.

"No use sitting around. We're going too. I got your bag already."

* * *

Allen had already suffered minor bruises. Tyki was trying to teach him something new but this time his short legs gave him a little bit of trouble. His left arm looked like it had been used as a punching bag. Really nice. This move was something Tyki had invented all by himself so it was not a surprise that Allen couldn't master it easily. Their bodies were so different.

Lenalee walked to the boards, their training time was already over but Allen and Tyki were still at the rink. She sighed quietly. Tyki shouldn't push Allen so hard. "Tyki! He needs to be in shape for next weekend. Remember? He has to skate at convention. We don't want him to be all hammered up."

Tyki turned his head to look at Lenalee who didn't seem happy about the training hours. "He wants to stay longer," he told the truth to Lenalee, "he is determined to master my Tease."

"That doesn't matter now. Lavi is waiting for us and I need to do something about those bruises," Lenalee whined, calling Allen to quit for today. Allen was so concentrated, that when he heard Lenalee, he turned his head too quickly to look at her way. Allen lost his footage on ice, slipping once again, this time hitting his forehead on the board. "Bloody hell!"

Tyki couldn't help but to laugh at Allen's accent. "Okay kid, go to shower," he grinned behind the boards. Even Tyki was sure that Allen needed some cooling off. "

Allen got up in a slight daze. His muscles and joints were aching badly. He skated to the boards and took off his ice skates. "See you on Monday," Allen said to Tyki, walking away with Lenalee.

* * *

"That looks bad," Lenalee commented when she inspected Allen in the locker room after the shower. There were bad bruises on Allen's backside. "I will but some cooling ointment, okay? When we get to my house, I will try to cover them up somehow. This will hurt a bit, okay?" she talked to Allen, who was too tired to complain when Lenalee touched his back to spread the ointment.

"Sorry Lenalee, I really wanted to show Tyki that I can master something new," Allen explained with a small laugh. Maybe he took it a little bit too far. His legs were a little bruised too.

Lenalee smiled gently. She knew it was a big deal for Allen. He was a big name around the world, after all. "Well, it's okay. A little bit of concealer can hide those bruises in your legs and arms. Luckily the dress will cover your back," she sighed in relief, giving Allen his shirt. All Lenalee was thinking right now was how to explain Lavi, why Allen looks like he is in pain.

Allen dressed quickly. They were a little bit late from their schedule so it was better to catch the bus. They also had some extra work now because of Allen's bruises.

"Lavi brought the dress here," Lenalee said as they got to her home. Komui wasn't here and it would be best to avoid him not seeing a boy in their house. "Quickly, go to my room in upstairs."

Allen did as told, hurrying to Lenalee's bedroom. It had very Asian style. Allen paled when he saw the dress on Lenalee's bed. The color reminded him of Lavi's fiery red hair. It had golden and black decorations on the hem of skirt, same color repeating on the corset. It was way too frilly. On top of that, it had belt and the captain's hat with feathers. "Lenalee… Don't tell me this matches with Lavi's costume?" he asked with uncertainty. Were those boots with heels?

Lenalee smiled and nodded. "That's why most of the girls actually tried to be the last ones. I guess Lavi counted that the last one will be a girl because all the boys informed first. But then you came along…"

Well, Allen had no choice did he? Lenalee helped Allen to get the dress on. "My brother will take us to the party. Luckily he hasn't met you yet so he can't tell the difference between a boy and a girl right now," she stressed about his brother, concealing all of the visible bruises Allen had. "Wow… Allen…" Lenalee said as she stared at the sight in front of her. "That looks… wow. You don't even look like a boy anymore."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Allen groaned as he stared himself from the window. Come on Allen, you can do it, Allen told himself. You worked at circus as a kid! Get it together. "Okay, shall we go now?" Allen asked as Lenalee got ready with her dress. It was much simpler. It was colored dark blue and it wasn't as frilly as Allen's. Lenalee was also missing a hat. "Okay, we will go now," Lenalee answered, rushing downstairs with Allen. "Big brother! We have to go now."

"My dearest Lenalee!" Komui wailed as he hugged his precious sister, "what did Lavi make you wear this time? This is outrageous! And you, the white haired girl! Make sure that no one touches my Lenalee!"

"Ye-yes, sir…" Allen mumbled with wide eyes. Lenalee sure had to suffer a lot. He glanced himself from the mirror for the last time before setting out. Lenalee had even covered his scar. Like it was never there. He smiled a little. Like a disguise, huh?

* * *

When Allen and Lenalee had finally arrived to the beach, party had already started. Old music from the age of pirates… Allen could also smell the rum pretty good. "I don't think that heels and sand is a very good idea," Lenalee commented, pointing at Allen's boots, "I suggest you to take them off, I don't want you to break anything."

"Ah, right," Allen said as he wiggled out of his boots. Right at that moment, Lavi had come to them with Daisya.

"Holy flying shit Allen!" Daisya yelled, looking at the boy in front of him. Or a girl. No, he wasn't sure anymore. All he knew that he could turn gay for Allen, right here and now. "Welcome aboard, mi' lady," Daisya grinned, holding his hand for Allen.

Lavi pushed Daisya's hand away. "Back down you maggot, he is Captain's property," he joked and hold out his hand for Allen, "aww, come on. Don't look like that. It suits you better than half of the girls."

Allen blushed softly, grumbling something about stupid rabbits. Lavi had definitely a matching outfit. Their hats were completely alike. Just that Lavi had dark red Captain's jacket with golden and black decorations. Under the jacket, he didn't wear a shirt. He only had pants that were like black, ripped skinny jeans. There was also a sword hanging loosely on his belt. Allen could've done that too! Not fair. Most of the outfits were modern styled anyways.

"Okay, so Allen. Do you drink?" Lavi asked, taking Allen towards the party area. Lenalee and Daisya were following behind.

Allen had to think this for a while. "Yes I do, but not beer," he said scrunching his nose a little. Sometimes he would relax with a glass of wine but it was rare.

"I mean… How good can you hold you alcohol?" Lavi laughed, giving a bottle of rum. He liked the way Allen took a sip from the bottle. "I take that as…?"

Allen chuckled at Lavi's reaction. "I grew up with Cross. What can you expect?" he laughed in more relaxed way. Allen still didn't want to drink too much, there was a line he can't cross either. "So, how's your head?"

Lavi grinned, taking the bottle from Allen. "It can hold enough."

"Hey! Who wants to play poker!?" Daisya yelled from a wooden table in the middle of beach, "I'll take you on!"

It didn't take long for Allen to be seated at the table with various different boys. Lavi groaned quietly. Allen was going to get his ass whipped. "Allen, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Shut up, sit and watch," Allen grinned mischievously, dark aura slowly growing.

"We have different rules in this one," Daisya said, pointing at the shot glasses, "Indian poker. Each player is dealt a card face down. Then, without looking at the card, they must place it face out on their foreheads so that everyone else can see it. That means that every player can see everyone else's card but their own," Daisya started to explain so that rules were clear for everyone around the table. Good rules, no fighting.

"The dealer starts off the game by betting a certain number of drinks that they have the highest card. Every player places their bet in turn; those who don't think they can win may fold by taking as many drinks from their rum that the current bet is at. The player who loses overall, the one with the lowest card, must drink the total of the bets. Any questions?" Daisya finished with a grin. Oh how drunk Allen was going to be after this.

After two hours of playing, Lavi had joined in the middle way. Dear lord, Allen was a real card shark. How was he able to win everyone? Lavi eyed Allen carefully even if he was feeling more or less drunk. "OK, I'm done," Lavi mumbled, getting up from the sand. He was still feeling fine. Lavi didn't want to drink too much. Why? Because he needed to look after Allen. The beach was full of hungry pirates.

"Aww, Lavi," Allen laughed from his spot, beating the next round too. This was getting boring. No challenge at all. But he cheated so he had to give credit for Daisya. He was a good player.

Lavi grinned when Allen decided to join him. "Now I will introduce you to some of my friends, if you don't mind?" he asked, dragging Allen with him to the group of people who were currently fawning over one of the girl's dresses. Allen had to admit, she was a real beauty.

"Okay, everyone!" Lavi announced, pointing at Allen. Allen suddenly felt nervous when everyone was staring at him. Apparently they were guessing his gender. He did knew some of the people by the face. "This is Sachiko," Lavi introduced Allen firstly to the pretty lady.

"He-hello, I'm Allen," he introduced himself, holding out a hand. But the girl never shook Allen's hand. Actually, she was a lot more interested about Lavi. What a surprise, Allen thought quietly. He let out a small sigh. But then he was assaulted by other friendly people. He got known to Noise Marie, Miranda, Suman and Johnny. They offered Allen water, just in case the rum got out of hand.

"So, have you liked to be in Canada?" Miranda asked with a friendly smile. Is this what a mother is? Allen asked himself, shaking his head. "Yes… Lavi and others have been really friendly… Just that some people talk in french here, hard to understand sometimes."

"Oh yeah, Lavi speaks fluent French I think," Marie commented with a thoughtful look, "I think he has mastered most of the languages anyways…"

Lavi was currently having fun with Sachiko but Allen didn't quite catch what kind of game it was. "Dare or drink," Johnny told Allen, who had a puzzled look on his face, "it's like a truth or dare… but this is only about dares and if you don't want to do the dare, you have to drink."

Allen shook his head. "I don't think I want to join," he mumbled, turning to look at his three new friends. He would never dare to do anything. And then he would end up being so drunk he can't even walk.

Miranda chuckled a little, understanding what Allen meant by that. "Maybe we can find something else to do…" she wondered out loud, which got Lavi's attention to them, "join our game! It's boring with just the two of us."

Sachiko turned to look at Allen. She was usually very sweet and nice girl, but there were certain kinds of people she didn't like. And when Sachiko first saw Allen at the table of popular people, she had decided to dislike him. "Laviii…" she whined, taking his hand, "I have a dare for youuuuu…"

Lavi turned to look at Sachiko. "Okay, bring it on."

Sachiko grinned. She had had a crush on Lavi ever since they first met… but then Lavi had this small fling with their math teacher and now things were different. Free prey for Sachiko. She also didn't think that Lavi was 100% gay. There was just no way. Sachiko poured vodka into a 0,5 dl mug, looking at Lavi with a smug smile.

"Wait. We didn't talk about drinking vodka," Lavi reminded, looking at the clear liquid. He really couldn't handle that Russian stuff.

"I make the rules here. Now…" Sachiko giggled, tilting her head, "I dare you to make out with me on the beach."

Everyone around them got silent. Everyone knew Lavi as a maneater, so this was an interesting bet. Will Lavi take the mug? Or the girl? Allen was confused about the silence. Was that dare so shocking?

Lavi stared at Sachiko. He should've guessed it. He peeked at Allen from the corner of his eye. Then he looked at his hockey player teammates. One of the hottest girls along Lenalee just asked to make out with her. Lavi let out a deep sigh, taking the mug and drinking the substance in one go.

Lenalee smiled from the row. She was glad.

The only reason why Lavi had done this was Allen's words from the other day.

"_I decide to take an advantage of you because I only seek fun. I leave you in the morning and never call back. You're left alone in the sadness of being used."_

Allen didn't still understand what the big deal was. The hockey players seemed to be in shock, Lavi's other friends seemed to be happy about his decision. "What is going on?" he whispered quietly to Marie, who chuckled.

"Lavi is known for his flings, not afraid of making out with anyone. He is a real maneater in this part of town. So this was a surprise," Marie told Allen, who seemed to realize now what was going on.

Sachiko stared Lavi with hurt expression. He actually chose vodka over her? She hold back a feeling of sadness and smiled at Lavi. "I guess you're growing up," she said sweetly, stealing a murderous glance at Allen's way. Ever since he had been here, Lavi had become different. "So, do you want to dare me now?"

Lavi took a while to recover from the vodka. That thing burned. "I dare you to go apologize Allen from that glare," he said, pouring the same amount of vodka to Sachiko's cup. Yes, he had seen that. And there was no need to be mad at Allen.

Sachiko didn't even think twice when she drank everything. "I will not apologize about something unnecessary."

"Is that so?" Lavi hummed, having a staring contest with Sachiko, "okay then. I think I will go to swim with everyone else. Allen? Wanna join in?"

"Ah, no thank you," Allen said with a small smile. That Sachiko girl didn't like him, did she? He let out a small sigh when only he, Sachiko, Marie and Daisya stayed at the beach. While Daisya and Marie were busy with their own small talk, Sachiko came to Allen.

"Why is a creep like you with them?" she asked with disgusted voice. Sachiko inspected Allen. "Don't think you have a chance with Lavi. If he would've wanted you, he would've done something already."

Allen didn't usually say anything offensive to the girls, but he had drunk enough to actually say something. "Isn't it the same on your case?"

Slap.

Daisya and Marie had turned to look at the situation. There was a small mark on Allen's right cheek. Ah, Allen seemed to get bruises easily. Or Sachiko was a woman with a lot of force.

Allen didn't say anything, but listened to Sachiko's rant quietly.

"How dare you say something like that!?" Sachiko spat at Allen loudly. It seemed to attract people from the water too. "You're nothing but a toy to them!" she continued, "and yet you dare to say something like that to their long-time friend? You're the lowest of all!"

"Sachiko!" Lenalee said, and took a hold of her hand. There was going to be another slap aimed at Allen and Lenalee wouldn't have any of it. "Violence is never a solution! Why do you always act this when you're drunk?" Lenalee tried to calm down Sachiko, who was about to rip out Allen's eyes.

Allen just backed down, ending up crashing into Lavi. "So-sorry," he mumbled quietly, feeling wet chest on his back. When Allen was about to get off, Lavi just placed his hand on Allen's shoulder.

He is trembling again, Lavi thought quietly. Maybe he could ask Kanda to take Allen home. "You okay, Allen?" he asked, looking at the red mark on his cheek. That looked like it hurt. He eyed Sachiko, who was now crying. "Want to go home?"

Allen nodded. "I'm sorry Lavi… I didn't mean to ruin your birthday."

Lavi huffed and took off Allen's hat. He covered their faces with the hat and gave a small kiss on Allen's aching cheek. Then he lowered the hat. "Kanda! Can you take Allen home?" he asked from the only sober one. Lavi didn't like the look on Allen's eyes. "I'll come by tomorrow to see you, okay?"

Allen nodded in acknowledgment, following Kanda to the car. This drama was too much for him.

* * *

The next morning Allen woke up was something terrible. He had huge headache, which reminded him not to drink rum. It always had a bad effect on him. Allen decided that he didn't want to get up from the bed today. Just to eat and take Tim out. Then back to the bed. Allen groaned when the sun was trying to invade his room. He got up to close the blinds, and then collapsing back to his bed.

He didn't want Lavi to come today. Maybe he should text him? Good idea.

'_Sorry Lavi,_

_I'm not in the house today._

_See you tomorrow.'_

That was good enough to keep Lavi away, right? Allen sighed as he pressed "send". It didn't take long to get an answer from Lavi. He cursed his luck at that moment.

'_Don't lie. You never close your blinds when you leave from home.'_

Lavi, on the other hand, wasn't suffering from a hangover. He usually never did. So what he was doing, was sitting in living room and stalking Allen's bedroom window.

It didn't take Allen long to open the blinds and open the window. He shielded his eyes from the sunlight. What he saw, wasn't surprising. Lavi's face glued to the window. He watched as Lavi opened his window too, for a conversation. "How long do you need to be ready for my visit?"

"Half a year and by then I'm in England," Allen answered dryly at Lavi. He could sense the amusement from Lavi's side.

Lavi almost laughed at Allen. Worst case hangover, huh? He shook his head. "I can fix you something to make you feel better. Okay? One hour and I'll be there."

Before Allen could answer anything, Lavi had already closed his window. "That idiot excuse of a friend," he growled shutting his window too. That meant that he had one hour to clean up a little and take a shower. And take Timcanpy out. Okay, 30 minutes for cleaning, 15 minutes to take Tim out and 15 minutes for shower. That was a good plan. Allen started from taking out Tim. Allen was expecting that this Sunday will be a long one for him.

An hour later, Allen was ready to welcome Lavi. No, not exactly ready with his state of hangover and aching muscles from yesterday's training.

Lavi was being very considerate: he actually knocked the door and didn't use the doorbell. Lavi was being gentle with people who had hangovers. Just kidding, not usually. But he had decided that Allen would be a special case. He also had a clear memory from yesterday. Maybe he should apologize for Sachiko.

Allen opened the door for Lavi. "I hope you have a bloody damn good fix for me or I won't be happy with you for the rest of the week."

"Laying around won't help your state at all," Lavi huffed at Allen, "I will cook you some eggs, and peppermint tea. And then we will watch a movie and while we watch it, you will drink loads of water. Once the movie is over, you don't even remember you had a hangover. That is a promise."

"Isn't greasy food usually the answer?" Allen asked with a loud yawn as he sat down. Lavi was already cooking the eggs for him.

"NO. That only makes you feel worse. It prevents you from getting a hangover but doesn't help curing hangover. Have you always eaten something greasy?" Lavi asked with a questioning voice.

Allen huffed at Lavi's tone. "Everyone has their own tricks and I'm still suspicious about your tricks."

"Okay, if it helps," Lavi said holding out a wooden spoon, "I can treat you a dinner tonight at my place. If it doesn't help, you can stay home with your greasy food."

Allen raised his eyebrow. "Deal," he said, digging into his food once he had gotten a plate in front of him.

A little bit less than two hours after they had finished watching Hangover the Movie, Allen felt surprisingly good. Lavi was always so sure of himself. Well, he didn't have choice now, did he?

Lavi didn't even have to guess. "I have the whole house for myself. Kanda is training with the rest of the team. I have a free day. Oh yeah, do you want to come see our tournament on Wednesday evening?"

Allen started to lay on the sofa and placed his legs on Lavi's lap. "Sure, I don't mind," he said with a yawn, "If I can snooze out for two to three hours and I'll be at your house? Sound okay?"

Lavi huffed, starting to lay down on sofa too. Good thing it was pretty spacey. "We might just as well both snooze out for few hours and then think what to do. That sounds better."

"Suit yourself."

"By the way… why do you have so much bruises?"

"Training with Tyki and Sachiko's mark on my cheek."

"Ohhh… right. Those bastards."

"..."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I wrote this at work. I had absolutely nothing to do. But I think this is a very rushed chapter. I'm not happy with it but this is necessary to make the story go forward. All you reviewers… I wanna cry. You're all so wonderful and I want to write like, everyday because of you. But I'm sorry about this sorry excuse of a new chapter. XD**


	7. Heartless doesn't suit you

In the end, the boys woke up on next morning. It was Monday. Lavi was the first one to wake up from his slumber. He glanced at Allen who was barely even on the sofa anymore. After taking in Allen's appearance, he looked at the clock. It was very, very early. Five o'clock in the morning. Lavi had to blink for a while and rub his eye gently. There was a question, and he wanted an answer. Should he carry Allen to the bedroom? Lavi sighed, finally lifting the boy to his arms. Allen was surprisingly light-weighted. Lavi had to hold his breath when Allen stirred in his sleep. The bruises probably hurt. Lavi shook his head, carrying Allen to upstairs. He laid the boy on the bed and pulled covers over him.

"Should I leave now?" Lavi asked quietly from Timcanpy, who didn't seem to be willing to share his thoughts with Lavi. In the end, the red-head stripped down to his boxers and went to sleep next to Allen. It was like that dream from a week ago. Lavi hadn't had a dream like that ever since, but seeing Allen like this seemed to trigger his memories again. Allen's silent breathing made Lavi relax. Just stop thinking, he said to himself and wrapped his arms around Allen's waist after he had set an alarm to ring in three hours. "Sleep tight."

Timcanpy stared at the two figures sleeping on bed. So the small puppy tried to get between Allen and Lavi, with force. In the end Tim tired himself out and fell asleep next to Allen's stomach. Like a happy family.

That happiness was ruined after three hours of sleep. Lavi's alarm was something Allen was not used to. Why would someone have a fire alarm as their wake up call? Allen groaned, trying to reach for Lavi's phone. But alas, he was locked in place by strong hands. Wait… what? Allen turned to look at his side, and saw Lavi grinning at him. "Why are we in bed? Are… Are you… Do you have clothes on?"

"Nope," Lavi lied to Allen, pulling the covers off in a sudden movement. When Allen squealed and closed his eyes, Lavi huffed and turned off the alarm. "You're like a teenage girl, I swear," he mumbled, taking Allen's hands off, "I have clothes on."

Allen moved his gaze from Lavi's abs to the lower part of his body and blushed. He only wore underwear. He hadn't really paid attention to Lavi so much, but… he was hot, Allen had to admit it. For a ginger, the very least. Allen hadn't met many hot gingers.

"You know…" Lavi started to say, but suddenly shut his mouth. He didn't know what to say. "I don't know what happened between you and Sachiko on Saturday. I'm sorry if she said something inappropriate to you. Sachiko is… usually very nice but I don't know what her deal is with you. And it's hard to believe that you said anything wrong."

"It's in the past already," Allen commented, touching his cheek. He blushed again, from the memory of Lavi kissing it. Why did he do that? He had never been kissed like that. It was gentle. "I should probably tell sorry to Sachiko too. I wasn't very polite either."

Lavi ran his finger up and down Allen's bruises on his arm. They looked even worse than yesterday. Now they had gotten some green and yellow color. "Does it hurt?" he asked quietly, staring at Allen's face. He scooted just a little closer. Maybe Allen was more like a little brother to him. That could explain his mixed feelings of concern and love, sometimes irritation. Yeah, definitely like a little brother.

Allen turned to look at Lavi's fingers. "No, it doesn't. You should probably go change to your own house."

Lavi thought about Allen's suggestion for a while. "Why don't you change now and we'll go to my house together? Then we can have breakfast there with Kanda," he said with thoughtful expression. Then something hit Lavi hard from the inside. His theory about Allen being a little brother couldn't be true! How many fantasized about their little brothers?! Did he fantasize about Deak? No, god no. Deak was his twin brother!

Allen shrugged, getting out from the bed. He went to grab clean clothes from the drawer: dark skinny jeans and white dress shirt. When Allen stripped down to his underwear, Lavi couldn't look away. Okay, definitely not brotherly love, maybe just lust. Lavi needed to have a piece of Allen. He needed to stop the thirst. It was like being a vampire: you needed something to hold your lust. Lavi forced himself to look somewhere else. He couldn't possibly do that to Allen. Lavi saw what happened when Tyki assaulted him. He freaked out when Lavi came to give him a small kiss. "I can't do that," he whispered.

Allen waved his hand in front of Lavi's face. He had been spacing out quite long. "You can't do what?" Allen asked from Lavi.

"Nothing… Forget it," Lavi mumbled, ending up staring into Allen's silver pools. He should avoid Allen. This wasn't going to end well. But Lavi's avoiding didn't start well. It was like a dream. Lavi leaned closer to Allen's face, so close he could feel Allen's shaky breath over his face. He is scared again, Lavi thought. "Never mind. Ready to go?"

Allen didn't know why Lavi suddenly came so close to his face, but he couldn't steady his breath. He would never admit it, but he was pretty innocent from his mind. Allen swallowed thickly. "Ye-yes. Let's go to your place."

* * *

The school day was somehow the worst thing for Allen. When he had tried to apologize to Sachiko, she had almost slapped him again – well, the thought of apologizing could do as well. And now he was alone in the class. Lavi left already with others and now he had to face Tyki. Alone. Allen was tapping his pen in a stressful way. All he could do was hope that the hour would go by quickly. Not that he was able to concentrate. Something was weird with Lavi. He had been awfully distant today, barely even talked.

Allen pursed his lips. Did he do something wrong in the morning? He tried to think back to the morning. After he had changed his clothes, Lavi had become so weird. But he didn't dress anything different than usual, minus the pirate dress. Allen let out a deep sigh, but soon got waken up from his land of thoughts when Tyki came in, sitting right in front of him with a chair.

"Shall we get started?" Tyki asked with a mischievous grin.

After half an hour, Tyki groaned desperately. Why Allen wasn't able to understand easy formula like this? It was simple algebra! He sighed, ready to rip his own hair out. No, his hair was too perfect to be ripped. He listened when Allen started to complain about heat. Tyki's eye twitched. That was all Allen was thinking? The heat? Okay, maybe this wasn't a right way to teach him. How about bribing with food?

Allen had to un-do first three buttons of his shirt. It was warm, okay? For Allen it was too warm right now. Too bad he didn't notice Tyki's hungry stare. Allen was not aware that his collarbones were showing off nicely under the shirt. "Hey, Tyki, I think I got it fin–"

Allen gasped. He didn't even have time to realize what had happened. Tyki had assaulted his neck. And the older boy didn't give Allen time to react; he had pushed Allen onto the table, locking his wrists against it. "S-stop! Tyki! What are you doing–Mmmpfhh!"

Tyki had decided to silence Allen with a deep kiss. It was Allen's own fault for showing off beautiful, bare skin. No one wasn't even at school anyways. He wouldn't have any danger. Allen wouldn't probably even tell anyone, not even that rabbit. So he wanted to have his own share. Allen was his. His property. He had seen him first. Tyki bit Allen's lower lip roughly, licking away the small tray of blood. "Come on kitten… you like this."

Allen could felt tears forming into his eyes. "Stop…"

* * *

Lavi accidentally pushed his water bottle when he was having a break. Now all the contents were laying on the ground. "Shit," he cursed silently, picking up his bottle from the ground. He sat behind the boards, listening to Kanda whistling penalties – the team also learned what it was to see a game through the referee's eyes. Lavi glanced at his clocks. Allen should be training at the other rink already, with Anita.

Lenalee was already there with Anita, looking concerned too. Lavi huffed silently. Don't think about Allen, Lavi shook his head, getting back to the ice. They had a game on Wednesday and he had to focus. "Get to the blue line, Daisya!"

Anita sighed quietly. "Maybe it's better if we start without Allen," she said with a sad smile. Anita had prepared everything ready for Allen; next weekend was his first performance at Canada. "He'll be here sooner or later."

Lenalee nodded, getting to the ice. She did some warm up circles around the ice. Something suddenly caught her eyes and she stopped. "Tyki!" she yelled, skating to the boards and sopping the man, "Did you come with Allen?" Lenalee asked, looking at Tyki with serious eyes. He was tutoring Allen today from math, right? Every Monday after school? And this was the first lesson? Right? Lenalee wanted to be right.

Tyki turned to look at Lenalee. "Oh, yeah, he wasn't feeling well so I took him home," he said with a slight smile. Oh yes, Allen really wasn't in shape to skate right now. "I think he'll be better soon. I think he has a flu or something. First he complained about being cold, then warm. And he couldn't really focus."

Anita came to Tyki also, looking at him concerned. "Thank you Tyki. You're such a great friend. Lenalee, can you go check on Allen after training? I want him to be okay and ready for the weekend."

Lenalee nodded, waving to Tyki who disappeared to the small rink. Smaller kids, ready to learn how to skate. Lenalee turned around, giving a concerned look towards the ice hockey rink. Hopefully Tyki was telling the truth.

"Okay, start from the Ina Bauer!" Anita said, clapping her hands, "you need to stretch more after trainings Lenalee!"

"Yes Madam!"

Meanwhile in a certain house, Allen was showering and crying. He was in so much pain. His lower back was killing him, literally. Allen didn't even want to know if he was bleeding from there too. It was his first. First everything. Sure he had problems with drunken men at pubs when he was younger but no one EVER got that far. Because usually Cross was with him. Now he was facing his problems all alone. Allen didn't know how long he had been in the shower. He would skip school tomorrow… maybe on Wednesday too. Even though Lavi had a match on Wednesday and he had promised to come.

Allen groaned, turning off the shower and drying himself. He stared himself from the window. Almost his whole body was covered with hickeys plus his old bruises. Allen threw the towel at the mirror, getting dressed. He left the blinds open and collapsed onto his bed. "Bloody hell!" he wailed from pain, as if he had already forgotten about his aching lower back. Tears were forming again into his eyes. What did I do to deserve this? Allen thought before he had drifted into a restless sleep.

* * *

"You don't know that!" Lenalee yelled at Kanda and Lavi, who weren't interested about Allen right now. Lavi had his own reasons and Kanda… well Kanda was just being Kanda. "What if something happened!? He isn't answering the door or picking up his phone!"

Lavi tried to act like a stone. To be honest, he was a little worried too. Allen wasn't home because his blinds were open… or he tried to be sneaky and pretend he wasn't home. Lavi shook his head. "Look, Lenalee. Tyki said he was okay and everything is fine. I'm sure he will appear to school tomorrow," Lavi reassured carelessly, sipping his coffee, "we're not his parents."

"Lavi!" Lenalee looked absolutely terrified. Since when Lavi hasn't cared about Allen? Just now? He was sleeping at his house last night! That meant something? A good friendship? Maybe even more. "What is wrong with you!?"

Kanda listened to Lavi and Lenalee's arguing long enough. He silently got out from the kitchen. Okay, it had come to this. Kanda marched to Allen's door. "BEANSPROUT! Open the fucking door or I will bust it down!" he yelled through the door, slamming it with his fist. He could hear Timcanpy barking and Allen shushing him down. So he was in!

Allen was sitting on stairs, looking at his phone and listening to Kanda's yelling. Nope, he didn't care. Fifteen missed calls from Lenalee, two from Lavi, one from Anita, three from Tyki. Why would Tyki try to contact him after something like this? Allen sighed. Kanda just wouldn't give up, huh?

Kanda cracked his neck, kicking the door down. He was faced with a terrified look from Allen. "I told you, beansprout. Now that I've confirmed you are alive, I will excuse myself," he said, lifting the door back up. That didn't fix it but it was beansprout's own fault.

Allen's lower lip started to tremble. Now his door was busted too. This was just too much on one go. He buried his head to his knees, crying again. When he heard Lenalee's voice nearing, Allen disappeared from the stairs and locked himself in the bedroom. His heart was beating rapidly. He didn't want to be seen like this. Kanda had already seen him but luckily, he wasn't one to care about people.

Lenalee had seen Kanda from the window with Lavi, but in the end Lenalee was the only one to go see what was up with Allen. She travelled to the upstairs, looking around for Allen. When she tried to open the bedroom door, she realized it was locked. "Allen? Are you okay? Are you still feeling sick?"

Allen rolled his eyes. So that was Tyki's excuse to Anita and Lenalee, huh? Telling half of the truth. No, he couldn't just say 'I raped Allen and he won't be okay for few days, maybe never'. Allen sighed silently. "Ye-yes, I feel very sick. I'd rather have some quiet and peace now."

"Can you open the door, please?" Lenalee asked with a demanding voice, which still held a gentle tone to it. She didn't believe Allen's words. Something had happened between him and Tyki at the school. Or someone. Tyki wouldn't cover things up for nothing. "Did something happen?"

"No," Allen groaned, wiping his eyes, "I'm just sad that Kanda broke my door."

In the house next to Allen's, Lavi was pacing in the living room. He couldn't stop stealing glances towards Allen's bedroom. He could make out Allen's figure. It seemed suddenly so weak, so tired. It was also kind of weird, because Allen had promised to come here to do homework after training. He hadn't come. Lavi sat down on the couch. What was he supposed to do? If he got any closer to Allen, he wouldn't be able to protect Allen from himself anymore.

He would claim him.

Lavi slammed his fist on the sofa. He didn't care, he didn't need to know. He could abandon his feelings, just like he had always done. Lavi could do that, yeah. No problem at all. But when Lenalee came back with sorrowful face, he couldn't ignore the heavy feeling on his chest. What the hell had happened to Allen?

Lenalee sat next to Lavi. "He told me that he is sick… the same as Tyki told," she sighed quietly, looking down at her hands. What they were doing wrong? Lenalee thought Allen had started to trust them already. "Lavi. Please. Go there. You can get him open up."

Lavi knew he would probably be able to do it, but he didn't want to, even if his heart was currently being ripped to small shreds. "Why should I? It doesn't change anything at all. Allen should be able to take care of little flu," he snapped at Lenalee. Just leave me alone, Lavi thought, getting up from the sofa. "You should start having more hobbies if you think too much about other people."

Lenalee got up too, glaring Lavi. He was at point zero – again. "You haven't changed after all, have you? I thought you were finally opening up to people but now you're just like before! Just like when you came here the first time. Think how Allen feels if you start acting like this now, of all times! How would've you felt? We supported you with Kanda!"

"Allen? It's always about Allen!" Lavi growled at Lenalee. Why everyone was thinking about Allen? Why no one ever questioned how he felt when Allen was too close? How painful it was to try and keep your hands away from him? Lavi bit his lip. "Go home, Lenalee. Allen is fine, okay?" he said quietly, falling back to sit on sofa.

Lenalee slapped Lavi. "Get it together," she whispered harshly, walking to her home. Lenalee flipped the hair over her shoulder. Lavi needed a wakeup call.

Lavi raised his hand to touch his cheek. Not a leg, but hand? This chick was serious. Lavi looked through the living room window. Allen's house was completely dark. He shrugged his shoulders. Lavi would see Allen tomorrow at school so it wasn't a big deal. He would see that Allen was okay and that Lenalee was only overreacting.

* * *

Lavi was sitting on his desk quietly. He glanced at his side. Allen wasn't here. His eyes travelled to the clock. The first period had started fifteen minutes ago. Allen didn't come to his place for breakfast, but Lavi didn't go see Allen either. They usually came with Lavi's car, this time Allen didn't come. He never got out of his house, Lavi thought bitterly. Mr. Tiedoll was explaining how to make a picture look like it was alive. Lavi was never very artistic but Allen loved art classes in here. "Any minute now," Lavi whispered when he saw a bus through the window. Maybe Allen just overslept. Man, how wrong he had been. Allen never came out of that bus either.

"Mr. Bookman? Are you still with us?" Tiedoll asked as he placed paper in front of Lavi. Sure, Lavi liked to daydream, it was nothing new. He looked at Allen's desk that was currently empty. "Mr. Walker is absent?"

Lavi snapped his head towards Tiedoll, nodding. "Yeah, Allen told Lenalee that he is sick or something," he explained, taking some pencils. Focus. Lavi couldn't shake the bad feeling he was having. It felt like he was lying about Allen's well-being, the reason why he is away. Lavi felt Tiedoll's stare on him. He wasn't lying, right? He didn't know the real reason!

Tiedoll shook his head, walking back to his desk. Lavi was so lost today. He saw right through him.

Daisya poked Lavi's back with a pencil. Lavi turned to look at Daisya. "What?" he whispered quietly.

"What "what"? Don't you know?" Daisya whispered quietly. He was more or less worried about Allen's state. "Marie had seen Allen limping out of the school with Tyki yesterday. There was no one else in the school, ya know?"

Lavi turned completely towards Daisya. "Could you repeat? I'm not sure if I heard right. Allen was limping?" he asked, trying to keep his voice down. And with Tyki? Suddenly his stomach started to feel cold and sick.

Daisya rolled his eyes. So he hadn't heard yet. "Marie said to me that Allen looked really bad," Daisya mumbled, glaring the girl who tried to overhear their conversation. He thought that maybe it was better if this gossip didn't get out of hand. It would be bad for Allen, without a doubt. "And you know how Tyki is when there is new prey that is small enough to devour," he said, grabbing Lavi's arm when he was already trying to leave from the class. Probably beat up someone called Mr. Mikk. "Leave it be. It's better not to make a number of it."

Lavi gritted his teeth and sat back down. He had been so heartless when Allen needed it the least. "I need to pay him a visit after school," Lavi said quietly. Hopefully Allen would let him in. No wait, there wasn't a problem. "Kanda even broke his door last night."

"He what?" Daisya choked on his spit and coughed. Well, that is very Kanda-like. "Okay… I and Marie will come to fix his door while you can go see him… Do you think that Tyki actually…?"

"Yes, I think so," Lavi answered. If Marie didn't saw any bruises that were fresh, it had to hurt from the inside. Lavi shivered a little. His memories about having Tyki in bed weren't something he wanted to remember. Well, Lavi was a real man and could handle quite a lot of pain. But when it came to Allen who was afraid of having skin-to-skin contact, innocent, weak… How Tyki dared to touch Allen? How would Allen be able to train anymore? This was his second week here and Tyki had already assaulted him.

Daisya was currently thinking the same as Lavi. "I mean… Even though I first didn't like Allen and he looked little weird… He is pretty hot. So it's not a wonder Tyki wanted to do that. Doesn't Allen have a performance on weekend?" he asked while he was drawing a landscape with a small house in the middle, "Does he have to train with Tyki?"

"Thank god no," Lavi huffed, moving his paper to Daisya's desk. That would've been really bad. "He is training this week with Anita and Lenalee. So Allen doesn't have to be alone with Tyki on this week. Next week is a whole new story though. Hopefully Allen is able to perform on weekend."

Sachiko smiled next to Daisya. She had just heard something really juicy. Sachiko had evil gleam in her eyes. Maybe spicing up the poor Allen's tragedy would be great. She turned to her friends. "I heard that Tyki and Allen has affair," Sachiko told, making some of the girls gasp, "or more likely, I heard that Allen seduced him after school yesterday and they ended up having sex. Our honor student? Can you believe that?" Sachiko sighed dramatically, "Poor Tyki. He will get his heart broken."

Lavi glanced towards Sachiko and her friends. Team Gossip. He turned his eyed back to Daisya. "Do you think this will stay between us? Me, you and Marie?"

"I'm not gossiping and Marie would never do that. I think Allen is safe from gossip."

Oh how wrong they were: before the school day was over, the whole school was aware what had happened. But they had a completely different story. Daisya, Marie, Kanda and Lavi were standing in the hallway, thinking what they should do now.

"Beansprout will be expelled," Kanda said the harsh truth. It will reach Klaud's ears sooner or later and then they wouldn't be able to do nothing about it. The whole group fell silent.

"Which one of you forwarded this message?" Marie finally asked from Lavi and Daisya. The two boys exchanged looks of confusion. Marie sighed. Apparently someone had overheard them and understood everything wrong. "Maybe we can go to the principal and explain the situation."

Daisya groaned quietly. "We don't have any proof that Tyki did that to Allen," he said with a deep sigh, "it will be a big mistake if that wasn't the case and Allen just hurt his feet or something."

"But then it's not a problem," Lavi commented thoughtfully, "No one saw Allen and Tyki together, except Marie. And we're not sure if something really happened. So we can clear this problem by saying that Allen hurt his leg."

Marie, Daisya and Kanda thought about this theory. "Someone might say that they saw Allen and Tyki together," Daisya commented with a thoughtful nod. All they could probably do was watch from the sidelines. Tyki probably enjoyed this, so he might just as well play along with the gossips. "But I think the bigger problem now is how we tell Allen… about the situation at hand…"

Right on that moment, Lenalee came to the boys. Lavi learned a new slap. "Fine?! You said Allen was fine! I don't believe half of what is going on here but I have pretty good idea what happened yesterday. You didn't even care!" she almost cried. What made Lavi so heartless? She bit her tongue. No, don't say stupid things, Lenalee told herself. She looked at Daisya and Marie, who were a little bit shocked by Lenalee's slap of love. No, that was already hate. "What happened? Who started this stupid gossip?"

Marie ended up telling Lenalee what had happened yesterday when he was walking near the school. He also told that he had told Daisya and Daisya told Lavi. "So no one else knew except you three?" she confirmed, while Lavi was sulking in the corner, "then someone overheard you or Tyki made this up."

Lavi had gotten two slaps in less than two days already. This was getting annoying. He was feeling guilty, okay? Wasn't that good enough? Apparently not. He picked his backpack from the ground and walked back to the group. "I will go check on Allen," he said, glancing towards Sachiko who was giggling with her friends. Then he stopped to think. "I think I know who started our little problem too."

Everyone in the group followed Lavi's eye to the group of girls. Team Gossip. "Sachiko was sitting next to you, right Daisya? They started to gossip right after we started to talk about Tyki and Allen," Lavi commented. Mystery solved. Not that it helps much anymore. The harm was already done.

Daisya rolled his eyes. Of course. Who would've thought? It was probably his fault; talking about something like that near Sachiko was never a very good idea. "Sorry… I will come with you Lavi. Need to fix that door. Want tag along Marie?"

"You two," Lavi said to Kanda and Lenalee who decided to stay at school, "Can you go to Klaud and explain the situation? If it doesn't work, we can only watch but it's better than nothing."

Lenalee nodded, dragging Kanda with her to the principal. Klaud was a woman; she had to understand the situation!

* * *

"Well, we can fix this on no-time," Daisya commented as he inspected the broken door with Marie, "do you have any tools in your house, Lavi?" he asked, peeking inside the quiet house. Was Allen even home? Daisya felt little skeptic. Normally if someone was home, you would have at least some kind of noise.

Lavi threw his keys at Daisya. "In the garage. And before you ask, Allen is home," Lavi said, pointing at the closed blinds in the kitchen. Oh he knew how Allen worked. He went inside carefully, looking around. Bedroom it is. When Lavi got to upstairs, he was surprised that the bedroom door was open. He peeked inside. "Allen?" Lavi asked quietly.

Allen had hid himself under the covers. He had heard Lavi and Daisya talking about his broken door while he was showering. He only had time to get out from the shower, get back to his room, get dressed and hide under the covers. Now Allen's only wish was that he was invisible to Lavi. He had even minimized his breathing.

Lavi looked around, walking to the window. He opened the blinds so that he could see better. "No use hiding. I can see you," the older one said, sitting next to Allen's small body. Lavi saw Allen breathing more now. Okay, so at least he wasn't trying to hide anymore. "Marie saw you yesterday after the tutor lesson."

Allen chest tightened at Lavi's words. Of course, every lie came out someday. "And?" he asked quietly under the covers. Maybe if he acted clueless, no one would have to know. It wasn't important. Things like this happened to women all over the world, every day. Even children suffered from things like this. Allen shouldn't be whining.

Lavi grabbed the covers and pulled them off. Before Allen could react, Lavi had pinned his arms down onto the bed. When Allen started to fight back from fear, Lavi sighed. "Shhh. Allen. I'm not going to hurt you, I won't do anything. I just need to know the truth," Lavi said quietly, lifting Allen's t-shirt carefully. This was a risk, taking a step back with Allen. When he saw the hickeys and bite wounds, Lavi decided he had seen enough. "That bastard…" he growled, accidentally squeezing Allen's wrists too hard.

Allen winced. "La-Lavi, you're hurting me," he winced quietly, making the older boy back down from him. Allen was embarrassed. Lavi had seen the marks, the wounds… It was humiliating. It was a proof of something; he was too weak. "Don't tell anyone… please. I beg of you," Allen whimpered, hiding his face into a pillow.

This was a time when Lavi felt like killing everyone. Worst thing to see was someone you cared for suffer so much. Everyone in the school knew already and Allen was begging him. Lavi lowered his hand to massage Allen's lower back gently. "It's too late already. Sachiko overheard Daisya and me talking…"

"Oh…" was all that Allen was able to say. For some reason Lavi's warm hand didn't feel uncomfortable on his backside. "Will I be expelled now?" he asked quietly. Knowing Sachiko, the story probably had gotten some spice to it. The girl hated her, after all.

"I don't know," Lavi told the truth, watching Allen's muscles relaxing little by little. If this made Allen feel better, he would stay here until Allen was completely okay. "We're trying our best, okay? But I think it'd be better if you don't come to school this week. I can come here after school, bring your homework and help out."

Lavi couldn't believe what he had just said. Spending even more time with Allen now? He was supposed to avoid Allen, especially now that he was broken. Lavi couldn't risk doing anything wrong. But he couldn't ignore Allen, not now.

"We fixed your door!" Daisya ran to the upstairs happily, looking at the sight on bed. Allen looked so tired to his eyes. "You don't need to worry about it anymore," he said with a carefree smile. He was surprised to get a small smile from Allen.

"Thank you Daisya, tell Marie I said hi," Allen said to the man at the door. He had achieved great friends in so little time. He didn't quite know how to repay for everything. Even if everything was falling down to his head, there were still people who sheltered him and fixed the scratches.

Lavi smiled at Allen's features, nodding a goodbye to Daisya, who said that he'll go back to school. Probably to check the situation there. "If you need anything Allen, just tell me. I might go home at some point, but you have my number. Just a small text and I'll come running."

Allen turned to look at Lavi's sad appearance. Why was he sad? Why did he have to wear that face? Allen pouted. "That face doesn't suit you, Lavi. It's not the end of the world," he commented, but when Lavi poked his bite wound, Allen gasped and winced from pain.

"How can I smile when you're hurt?" Lavi growled, laying next to Allen. He lifted his shirt again. Tyki had too sharp teeth. "Sorry for doing that but I guess you understand now," he mumbled, running his finger on the surface of one wound, "I don't mean to pry but… was this…?"

"My first time," Allen whispered, feeling tears forming in his eyes, "first everything."

Lavi shook his head, hiding his face in the crook of Allen's neck. He felt the boy stiffen at first, but when he started to massage Allen's lower back, the younger one relaxed. "Allen, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never do something that would make you suffer. I promise. That's not what friends do. We support, not hurt. We fix, not break."

Allen relaxed next to Lavi's warm body. He listened to Lavi's words quietly, enjoying the massaging hand under his shirt. Even if world seemed like a dark place, there was always something that managed to light it up a little. He didn't answer anything to Lavi. But he didn't need to. When the silence embraced the two boys, they were able to understand each other, without saying anything.

That was their thread of connection.

* * *

"_Dear ,_

_I, Klaud Nine, have decided to temporarily expel you for inappropriate actions towards Tyki Mikk._

_These kinds of actions aren't acceptable in future._

_You can return to your school schedule on 12__th__ of November._

_You will have a home teacher visiting you every Friday at 12:00 pm._

_Kind regards,_

_Klaud Nine_

_The Principle"_

"Two months is a long time…" Lavi said with a small shiver. And home teacher? This gave Lavi even more goosebumps. Today was Friday. It had been five days after Allen's incident. "I know who the home teacher is. He teaches Tyki's nephew because she is too hard case in school."

Allen marked the day he needs to return to school on his calendar. It wasn't a surprise. He was expecting this to happen. "Is that so?" he mumbled quietly, drawing a smiley face in his palm, "Is he nice?" Allen asked from Lavi, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I only know how he looks and what his name is. Howard Link," Lavi remembered, flipping through Allen's calendar. So little things marked here. "You're not very busy person?"

Allen snatched the calendar back from Lavi, giving him a weak glare. "No, I'm not busy. But tomorrow I have to perform at convention, so… After that I probably will be with all the competitions. Winter time is coming and I will win the Winter Cup."

Lavi smiled. Allen had finally starting to forget about Tyki. "You saw how we kicked asses on Wednesday! You have to do the same. Even though, we are a big tem and then there is… just you. I mean, there is a difference. You will see the person as one. Not as a team," Lavi explained with a thoughtful nod, "I think you would look good in one of those dresses Lenalee wears."

Allen blushed a little. What an idiot rabbit. "I have to start searching a job for these three months. I can't just sit around doing nothing," Allen groaned, looking at the newspaper. He didn't even know what kind of job he could do. And no, before Lavi was even able to suggest it, he was going to say it: "I will not work in strip clubs even though I know how to move my hips."

"Aww man, I would've been a regular after that," Lavi joked, laughing when Allen threw a pen at him, "And then you could give me private sho– OW! Okay, I get it!" Lavi whined while Allen was pulling him gently from the ear. It was like nothing had ever changed between him and Allen. Lavi didn't have an urge to kiss Allen, or do anything inappropriate. How and why? Because Lavi had learned to have fun on his own. So most of time Lavi emptied himself before he came to meet Allen. It wasn't awkward as long as no one knew.

Allen smiled at Lavi. Such a sweetheart. "So… before this letter, you were telling how Vikings found America first. Care to continue or would you like to drink coffee? Being a home tutor must so harsh," he joked, walking to his coffee machine, "the same as always?"

"Yes please," Lavi said, taking of his bandanna. It felt always good to take it off once in a while. "I mean, Columbus has always been a big deal. In reality Viking visited America a long time before him. Vikings just didn't give a crap. Or didn't realize what they had found."

Allen stared at Lavi, with a smile on his face. He loved how Lavi came alive when he talked about history. "So? What will you do after Black Uni? Be a history teacher?"

"I want to travel the world," Lavi said, gleam in his eyes. He could see the old relics in his head. "Probably even write a history book. That's what I want to do. Record history. Go everywhere and see with my own eyes. Or eye. But I haven't had time to think about doing that, just thinking that the Noah Family is lurking at every corner, is a scary thought."

"Mana always said to me," Allen said as he placed the coffee in front of Lavi, "no matter what happens, you always have to keep walking. That's what I've done. You have done the same, haven't you?"

"About that… How did Cross find you anyways when you were a kid?" Lavi asked with a curious tone. Allen never told that, did he?

Allen shivered, pouring himself tea. "His ex-wife… Maria found me and wanted to take care of me. Two months after that, they got a divorce but Cross kept me… Because I was able to play poker and pay his bills that way."

"You make it sound like you're a dog, Allen," Lavi mumbled amusedly. He loved the way Allen always grew a dark aura when they talked about Cross. At first it was really scary, but now it was funny.

"I was named after a dog."

Lavi burst out laughing at Allen's blunt statement. Even if that was true, Lavi couldn't help himself or stop laughing. Soon Allen joined in, laughing with Lavi. Allen was still very proud of his name. No one could change that fact. When the laughter finally quieted down, they chuckled lightly at each other.

"I finally made you laugh."

Allen blushed slightly from his cheekbones. It was his first laugh for days. He was about to answer, but a knock on his door drew his attention. It was like déja vú. Both boys stared at each other. Was it Tyki again? Allen's stomach started to feel cold. "Can you go check?"

Lavi understood what Allen was afraid of. "Sure thing," he said, walking away from the kitchen. When Lavi finally got to the door and opened it, he was looking at a man taller than him. But for some reason, they looked very much alike with red hair. Then Lavi paled. He had seen a picture of Marian Cross. "A-Allen… I think you'd like to come here."

Allen got up with his tea, and walked to the door. He wasn't even surprised. "What is it this time?" Allen asked, sipping from his tea and leaning on the door frame, "Last time you sent me a postcard from India. It's nice. I just hoped that you wouldn't tell about your sex life in those."

Marian Cross stepped inside, ignoring Lavi's presence. He had a cigarette on his lips; yes, Cross smoked inside other people's houses. "Nice house, stupid apprentice," he commented, walking into the kitchen, "I brought you some bills to take care of. Do you have any booze in here kid?"

Allen shared a look with Lavi. Hopefully Lavi would understand now. "Why would I have any booze for you? You do know that I don't drink," Allen lied, walking into the kitchen. He stopped when Cross had already found his wine. "What did I expect to hide from you…?"

Cross ignored Allen's complaints and stubbed the cigarette in the sink. How considerate. "I will be staying in Canada for a while. I heard that there are loads of nice ladies. Allen, have you found a guy already? You're not gonna be pretty forever."

"Mind your own business, Master," Allen commented. His love life had nothing to do with Cross.

Lavi listened from the sidelines. It was pretty interesting, if someone asked him. It was nice to meet Allen's guardian. But maybe it was best if Cross didn't meet Lenalee. That would be disastrous. But before he even got to sigh from relief, Cross had dropped the bomb.

"I actually came to meet Komui. We have new evidence about the Noah, so I thought about visiting you too," Cross said, pouring a glass of wine for himself. He had never told Allen about working with police in Canada. He and Komui had known each other for a long time now. It was just a coincidence that Allen lived in the same street with him. "And see how much Lenalee has grown…"

"Don't even think about it," Allen sighed, giving the coffee cup for Lavi before it gets cold, "Ah, Master. This is Lavi Bookman…"

"Bookman?" Cross said, staring at Lavi. The name ringed some bells for him, but nothing came. But the other red-head seemed to be a little bit smarter this time around. "Uh, my grandfather used to work for CIA along with my father… So that is probably the connection," Lavi explained, looking at Allen's surprised face. Oh right, he never told about that, did he? Seemed like Cross had hid things from him too.

"Are you two related?" Allen huffed, looking between Lavi and Cross. Both hid things from him and had a same hair color. "Stop hiding stuff from me. Anyways, where do you plan on staying?"

"I have a friend who lives in the town. I will stay with her for the time-being," Cross said with a perverted grin. Ah, that woman was a goddess. "You should meet her, Allen."

"I'll pass…" Allen sighed. He had met enough Cross's women so he knew what they were alike. "Why don't you top investigating the Noah and do a job that actually gives you money to pay your own bills? I don't give a shit about the Noah," Allen spat at Croos, not realizing that he had hurt Lavi by saying this. He totally forgot about Lavi for a moment. It wasn't like he didn't care, Allen just wanted to forget. And Cross kept investigating, bringing him the memories back.

Lavi grabbed his mug a little tighter. "You didn't mean that, right?" he asked quietly, just to make sure. Allen cared about Noah, because Lavi was chased down by them. Getting new evidence would ensure Lavi's safety. "Allen?"

Allen turned to look at Lavi. Realization hit him hard. Shit. "No… I didn't mean it that way. I'll explain you later, okay?" he mumbled so that Cross wouldn't hear, "not now."

Cross drank rest of time wine and let out a big yawn. "Okay, I will be going now. I'll see you around," Cross said, giving Timcanpy a small pat on the head. They grew so fast. Cross wiped a fake tear from the corner of his eye. And then he was gone. Quick visit and Cross only said bye to Timcanpy. Allen sweatdropped, looking at Lavi. "Sorry you had to hear that."

"So… what was all that about?" Lavi said, blinking his eyes. He sat back to his place, sipping his coffee that had gotten cold already. "Blech."

Allen chuckled, taking the mug from Lavi. He gave the boy fresh, warm coffee and sat in front of him. "I try to forget what happened twelve years ago. Cross doesn't help with all his investigations. Of course I hope that Noah gets caught and you can roam around freely. I just… I just don't want to hear. If you understand…"

"Oh shut up already," Lavi chuckled, now burning his tongue from the coffee. He cursed quietly, then poking out his tongue. "Look at my tongue!" he said, but Allen couldn't really make out what he was saying. So he just laughed at Lavi's words. "You're silly," Allen commented back, "put that tongue back in your mouth."

"That's not what you said to me last night," Lavi joked with a perverted grin, which made Allen to throw another pencil at him, "just a joke!"

* * *

"Are you ready, Allen?" Lenalee smiled happily, fixing Allen's black, long-sleeved glitter shirt. On the back of the shirt was a white cross. She applied some foundation on Allen's scar. "Do you think you can manage?"

Saturday had come so fast that Allen hadn't even had time to realize it. He hadn't trained since Saturday, so to be said, Allen was very nervous. This convention had drawn in loads of people. Hobbycon: in here you can see what different things you can do in Canada. Allen was in charge of presenting skillful ice-dancing, Lenalee was there to explain everything and help children fill applications. "I can manage, no problem."

Lenalee admired Allen. He had gone through a lot on this week; she had tried her best to convince Klaud not to expel Allen, but Tyki's words had been more worth than theirs. After that had happened, Daisya had cut Sachiko's hair short on Wednesday's art class. "So…" she smiled, giving Allen a mirror, "You look so cute now!"

Allen hummed, looking at his non-existent scar once again. He got up from his chair, looking himself from a big mirror. He put on a black hat, decorated with glitters too. "More like ready to go," Allen laughed quietly.

"Good luck, Allen," Lenalee whispered to his ear, giving him a quick hug, "they're going to love you."

Daisya and Lavi were sitting up at the audience. "Do you think he is ready? Tyki is behind the boards," Daisya whispered quietly. Hopefully Allen was aware of it and wouldn't freak out.

"I told Allen earlier," Lavi said and relaxed on his seat. Lavi was sure Allen could keep his nerves intact. This was a real deal, no mess ups. Luckily this wasn't a competition, just a performance from a skater known around the world. Talk about having pressure on you.

"It's starting," Daisya whispered again, grabbing a mouthful of popcorns. All the lights were focused on the ice as Allen skated in. Lavi's heart was beating heart, probably from being a little nervous. He didn't want Allen to blew up.

Allen's heart was probably beating even harder. He saw Tyki at the boards, but all he was able to do right now, was to focus. Allen was happy he couldn't see the audience all that well. You've done this many time, this is not even about medals, Allen told himself as the music started to play. The music was familiar for almost everyone; con the partiro from Andrea Boccelli.

Tyki looked at Allen's smooth movements on ice. It was a great music choice from Anita. No one else probably saw it, but Allen's posture was pretty bad. Anita also seemed to notice it with Bookman. This made Tyki grin a little. Maybe he was a tad bit too rough on Monday. Next time he'd be gentler.

Daisya puffed his cheeks. "Boring… Why did they choose music like this?" he mumbled. Okay, Allen was beautiful on ice but this music choice? Nope.

Lavi grinned. "Wait for it."

"_Oppan Gangnam style"_

"Nooooooo…" Daisya groaned. He hated this song so much. It was overused. But then again he wanted to see how this dance worked on ice. "Wow, I didn't know you can do that with ice-skates."

Lavi was laughing next to Daisya. "I can't even dance it without ice-skates," he grinned, watching as Allen threw his hat to the audience. And Lavi though ice-hockey players skated fast. How didn't his head go dizzy from all the spirals and speed? He was proud of Allen. He had done such a great performance with so little training.

After the performance was over and Allen was in his final stand, the crowd was cheering so loud that Allen had to cover his ears. He smiled and waved to the crowd, picking up some five small plushies from the ice. Rest of them were flowers. Allen made on last circle around the rink and then stepped out of the rink. His back was literally on fire.

"Are you okay, Allen?" Anita asked as she hurried to give Allen a hug. She had seen Allen's expression while doing spins that could strain your back.

Allen felt extremely uncomfortable. "I'm okay, Anita. I just hurt my back on this week but I was able to perform today," Allen lied with a smile on his face. He exchanged a look with Tyki when the man came to talk with him. It didn't take long for Lavi and Daisya to be at his side like hawks.

"Great performance, Allen. Would you like help with stretching? Your stance didn't seem to be in place today," Tyki commented, looking at Allen's disgusted face. He couldn't be that bad at having sex…

"Thank you for the offer, but I can stretch myself just fine. And if I need help, I have my friends. I don't need your help," Allen said to Tyki, looking at him with serious eyes, "I made a proposal that I don't need to train with you anymore. In the end, I'm more talented. Which one should be coaching which one?"

Lavi grinned, circling his hand around Allen's shoulders. "You should probably go help Lenalee with all those kids who want to apply after seeing Allen. Maybe you can learn something from them."

Tyki glared Lavi and Daisya. Bodyguards. "Listen now, kitten. I can make you stop skating for the rest of your li–"

Tyki had earned a punch from Lavi. A hard one. "You listen now, Mikk. If you touch Allen, or anything that could bring him misfortune I will bring you down with my own hands. And I won't be the only one you will be facing in this country."

Allen watched quietly, not leaving from Daisya's side. He didn't know Lavi had a violent side. Daisya laughed at Allen's expression. "What do you expect from an ice-hockey player? We are pretty spiced up, aren't we?" Daisya grinned, ruffling Allen's hair, "Are you turning into Edward Cullen? You're getting glitter on me."

As Tyki got up from the ground, Bookman came to break down the fight. "Next time I advise you to keep your fights away from children's eyes. Tyki, come with me. Anita called you."

Lavi paled at Bookman, looking at Daisya and Allen who were currently bickering about Allen's glitter and Edward Cullen. Maybe things would turn back to normal soon.

"Hey Alleeeen, you have little fans over here," Lavi grinned, pointing at a group of kids who were looking at Allen admirably. He was proud of Allen. This was great!

Allen chuckled lightly, taking a pen from Daisya who happened to have one with him. "Okay, what's your name, little one?"

* * *

After the Hobbycon was over, Lavi was driving Allen home with his car. The smaller boy was sound asleep. Lavi glanced at Allen every once in a while. It was late night, but his hair stood out nicely in the darkness. Lavi didn't quite understand what was so big deal about his scar and hair. To him, they made Allen unique. As Lavi parked the car at Allen's front yard, he let out a tired sigh. It wasn't nice that Allen slept while he was driving. It made him drowsy. "Alleeeen… Wake up. We're home," Lavi shook Allen's shoulder gently. Allen only mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, and continued dreaming in his dreamland. Lavi sighed. Why did Allen have to sleep in upstairs? Lavi got out of the car and walked around to the passenger's seat. He unbuckled Allen carefully and lifted the small boy to his arms. Okay, Lavi had to forgive Allen for this: the day must've been very exhausting to him. Confronting Tyki, skating with aching back, giving autographs… Lavi shook his head. Yeah, Allen was allowed to sleep away his tiredness.

Lavi went inside Allen's house – first he had to find his keys though. Once again he walked to upstairs, to the Allen's bedroom. He put Allen gently on the bed and stripped him down to his boxers and t-shirt. Then he turned to leave, but for some reason stopped at the door. It was like an invisible wall. Lavi turned around to look at Allen. He was like an angel. White hair, silvery eyes, fragile body. Lavi couldn't stop his body from moving. He sat next to Allen carefully, Lavi didn't want him to wake up right now. Lavi wiped few strands away from Allen's face. So peaceful. Lavi leaned closer to Allen's face, first aiming to kiss his lips. He almost, almost let his lips kiss Allen gently. He ended up giving a kiss to Allen's forehead. Lavi had read that if you give a kiss to someone's forehead, they will have a surprisingly good luck. Lavi wanted Allen to have luck, after all he's been through. "Who will give me luck now, Allen?" Lavi whispered, giving a small kiss to his fingertips, "Good night, angel."

After that Lavi exited the house, looking at the night sky. "What am I gonna do with myself?"

* * *

**A/N: Again, I wrote this at my job. AND WHEN I SAVED IT, HALF OF IT WAS GONE WHICH MEANS: 10/ 21 pages, my lord. You better give me some credit from this one. I won't write on weekend, so probably next one will be out on… Next week? I think so. That's why I made a long chapter now. Don't hate on me sweeties. QwQ Now I will spare some time alone for myself: I will drink a glass of wine and listen to Il Divo… maybe Andrea Bocelli too. Thank you all for reviewing.**

**ps. Should I change this to M?**


	8. The distance is growing

"No, you have to use this formula!" Link sighed in frustration. Allen Walker was bad in math, as everyone already knew. This was the first day with Allen for Howard Link. And Link wasn't amused by it. He thought that teaching an honor student every Friday would be easy and relaxing but apparently not. Their three hours of studying hadn't gotten any progress because they were still stuck in math problems.

"But Lavi uses this one! He taught me," Allen groaned, giving a hard glare at Link. He was able to solve the problem with this formula, so why would he have to change the style now? It didn't make any sense.

Link slammed his pen on the problem. "I am a teacher, you are a student and Lavi is also student. I think we have to think about hierarchy before I teach anything to you, Mr. Walker!" he said with a low growl. He would probably need to talk about this with Leverrier. Allen Walker was a rascal, more or less.

Allen didn't give up on his glare. He was finally learning, and now this sorry excuse of a home tutor wanted him to do everything differently. "Why should I change the formula if the answer is correct? It doesn't make any sense, sir."

"Because it's not the correct way of doing it…," Link groaned for the tenth time today. This wasn't the first problem they had to solve. "I think you have more problems than the actual exercise."

Allen turned his look away from Link. "That was uncalled for," he mumbled quietly, sighing. He had first thought that Link would be nice, but now it's just pure torture. When he tried to go to the bathroom, Link followed him there. Why? Because he was suspecting that Allen was using drugs. "Oh, look at the time. You have to go."

"We have two minutes left," Link said, pointing the problem, "you have two minutes to solve this problem… with the **right** formula. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir…"

* * *

"Was it that bad?" Lavi asked from his white-haired friend as they were sitting together in Lenalee's living room. Lenalee had invited them over for coffee and to hear about Allen's first day with Link. "Hey, Allen? Are you still alive?" Lavi chuckled, poking Allen's stomach. They hadn't had time to really talk after weekend. Lavi was busy, Allen was busy. Lavi let his mind travel to Wednesday when Anita had informed Lenalee, Tyki and Allen about The World Figure Skating Championships.

"_I have something to tell you. Can you come here too, Allen?" Anita asked with a big smile, waving from the boards. She was really happy about something, and Lenalee seemed to already know what it was going to be about._

_"Is it about the Championships on March?" Lenalee asked curiously when Allen had come to her side. She glanced at Tyki who had come there too, next to Allen. "Is Tyki there too?"_

_Anita sighed. "What is wrong with you three? You are a team and team acts like a one. I have entered all three of you to the championships. Allen, you will be doing Ice Dance and Pair with Tyki. We want to show them something new and I think that male pair is a great idea. Lenalee will be also doing Ice Dance and Pair with you Allen. Tyki will take on Ice Dance too," she informed, holding out her small folder, "Any objections?"_

_Allen glared at Tyki. Maybe this was Tyki's idea in the first place. He turned his eyes towards the red-head and Kanda, who were sitting near them. He could swear he was able to see a hint of anger in Lavi's eyes._

Allen shook his head to get out from his trance. All he could see were numbers and formulas right now. "Yes, I'm alive. Did you ask something else?" he asked with puzzled expression. Allen wasn't really sure anymore.

Lavi shared looks with Lenalee after he was done with his small flashback to past. Allen was really traumatized. "So… I'll take that as a yes," Lavi grinned and took a coffee offered by Lenalee. Poor Allen. "Did you learn something that will blow my mind?"

"He said I have more problems than the actual exercise."

"Oh," Lavi and Lenalee said at the same time. They didn't know how to get Allen's mind off from something like this right now. When Lavi was about to say something, Allen interrupted him.

"He didn't let me use your formula…"

"HE WHAT?!"

Lenalee sighed. "Here we go again…" she whispered to herself, looking at the drama act performed by Lavi. Every time Lavi thought he was the best and when someone said his way was wrong… Lenalee shook her head. Only person who accepted Lavi's formulas was Tyki. And maybe only because he still hoped to get a piece of the red-head.

When the drama was finally over, Lenalee collected the empty coffee cups and went to clean them into the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder every once in a while, to see what was going on in the living room.

Now that Lavi and Allen had gained a small chance of privacy, the whole living room was quiet. Only thing they heard was Lenalee's humming from the kitchen. Lavi couldn't turn his gaze away from Allen. He still remembered the weekend. What had gotten into him? He had kissed Allen's forehead without Allen even knowing it. "Yo-you know…"

"I don't," Allen smiled at Lavi's stuttering. This made Lavi pout like a little kid who wasn't satisfied. "I can't know if you don't tell me. You've been acting strange the whole week and –"

"You didn't let me finish," Lavi whined, hugging a pillow to ease his so-called pain. Then the living room was quiet again. "Do you have something to do tomorrow? Because I have a day-off… Maybe you'd like to go do something?"

Allen's smile fell a little, maybe from a surprise. "Do you mean… Like home tutoring from you?" he asked with slight amusement. That's what they usually did when Lavi had a little bit time off from his school and ice-hockey. He was a professional player after all. "Or do you mean completely something else?"

Lavi had to think about Allen's question quite a long time. He had just blurted that question out in the first place: no plan whatsoever. He glared at Lenalee who was giggling quietly in the kitchen. So she overheard. "Well… Maybe I could tutor you first and if you are very good at studies, you can decide what we'll do after that."

Lenalee poked her tongue at Lavi. She knew it! Lenalee kept giggling. Lavi had hots for Allen, which was for sure. She just wished Allen would warm up to Lavi too. It wouldn't be nice if something bad happened, like Allen turning Lavi down. Lenalee was sure Allen wouldn't be ready for having anything with anyone but maybe with a little patience… Maybe… But Lavi wasn't known for his patience, really. Lavi was hot-headed and when he wanted something, he wanted it immediately.

"Can you make me mitarashi dango after it?" Allen suggested, with slightly watering mouth. He realized it quickly though, so he turned his head away in embarrassment. Oops. "Or… or if you have something else in mind?"

Lavi could've guessed it. Of course he wanted those. "It's your choice. Why would I change it?" Lavi grinned, ruffling Allen's hair. It was so soft. Like a white ball of cotton. "Oh… you have a tangle here…"

Allen growled and slapped Lavi's hand gently away. "Lenalee! I want more cookies!"

* * *

Saturday was a day Allen had waited the whole yesterday. He had even trained on his own on Friday evening. Allen was very determined to have his dangos from Lavi. Hand-made dangos! Can you believe that? Good thing Allen's friend was such a good cook. He sighed in dreamland. Those nice dangos…

"Are you listening?" Lavi chuckled, pointing at the history book. Maybe dangos as bait was too much for Allen right now. It was such an interesting subject too. Not the dangos, but capital punishment. "Mazzatello, Allen. Where was it used?" he asked once again when Allen didn't response after a while.

"Oh yeah… right," Allen said, scrunching his nose. He could only think that horrible way of execution after Lavi reminded him to answer. "Papal States in the 18th century…?"

Lavi grinned because he had finally gained Allen's attention. Maybe talking about disgusting things would help Allen to keep his mind off from the dangos. "Yes, you could also say Italy. What is flaying?"

Allen swallowed thickly. Why did they have to study something like this? Why Lavi was so keen on wars, punishments and horrible stuff? Or maybe he just teased him. That could be reason too. "Ta… Taking the… skin off from the prisoner…"

"Impalement? Blowing from a gun"

"I think we know enough of this subject. Can we please take another page? I will throw up. Lavi, please," Allen said, almost tearing up. This was too much for him to take in. How could people be so cruel? He shook his head. Get it together. Allen had to swallow again. He was so nauseous. The fact that he had been living in England was also a cruel fact. They had been pretty gore about death penalties too.

Lavi turned the page. Okay, he was really just teasing Allen. They didn't even have to know about those punishments all that much. "Sorry, that wasn't really necessary. You okay? I think we have unicorns in here too…"

Allen rolled his eyes when he saw a picture of unicorn in their history book: or more likely, Lavi's book. Where did people need all this information? Allen looked at the page in wonder. Was it really true? Seeing unicorn could give you a lifetime of good luck. Yeah, just like the kisses on forehead. "Bullshit, Lavi."

"Oh come on, Allen! No need to be so critical. There are loads of proofs that unicorns have existed on this planet. Maybe their horns were a little bit longer in ancient times but they exist!" Lavi tried to convince Allen, showing a picture of a skeleton, "See? And there are narwhals too!"

"I get it, Lavi," Allen smiled, taking the book away from Lavi, "Can we maybe focus on our **real** topic? As in the history of Exorcism?"

Lavi huffed. Okay, exorcism was one of the most interesting things Lavi knew of. He knew that most of his friends were really interested about it too. Lavi grinned widely. Maybe they could become exorcists. He hummed quietly, looking at Allen explaining about the colorful history of exorcism. Lavi closed his eyes and just listened. He swore that Allen was enjoying about this subject, like he knew everything about it. It was weird how a small thing like this interested him to the end.

"Lavi? I'm trying to explain here and you don't listen! How can you know if I tell something wrong if you don't even–mmmpfhh!"

Lavi didn't even register what had happened. He had listened Allen rambling about him not listening. Then he just opened his eyes and leaned over to Allen, pressing his lips against the smaller ones. He could feel Allen's heart race from panic and fear. Lavi wanted to break away but he couldn't. He couldn't control his body.

Allen's mind was only full of fear and dark thoughts about Lavi's sudden attack. When Lavi didn't move away, or didn't force him to stay on place, he started to relax. Lavi's heartbeat was so steady. Allen finally moved his head to the side, and Lavi rested his head on the crook of Allen's neck. "La-Lavi…?"

Lavi woke up from his trance when Allen called his name. What the hell had just happened? Why did he do that? Lavi lifted his head up quickly and he looked at Allen's uncertain face, which held so many emotions: fear, surprise, uncertainty, sadness… maybe that small glimmer in his eyes was hope. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I swear to God that I didn't mean to do that."

Allen lifted his hand up to silence Lavi. He needed to digest this situation thoroughly. "I… Bloody hell Lavi: I didn't expect that. Please don't do it again."

Lavi felt a hammer break down his chest at that moment. Shit. He really blew it. "Sorry… I… I…," he tried, but Allen's hurt face was more than enough to make him feel even more guilty. He was just raped week ago by Tyki! And now he did that? Lavi pursed his lips. "I totally blew my chances…" he whispered to himself.

"You blew what? I can't really hear you know. Lavi, I know you're not a bad man. Things like that happen. I know you like one-night stands but… I… I don't know if I'm up for them. Not now… I know. I'm sorry," Allen mumbled quietly. Lavi seemed so hurt. Little did Allen know, Lavi really had started to develop feelings for our little Allen. "I don't want anyone to toy around with me… you know?"

"No! I mean… No. I would never toy with you Allen. I'm not that kind of person you think I am. I know my reputation is pretty bad when it comes to things like that but I would never toy with anyone. I'm not like Tyki," Lavi groaned to Allen. Why did this have to turn like this? Nice Saturday was completely not nice anymore. "Not that I want to have something like that with you or anything…!"

"Okay, let's calm down. It was just a kiss, nothing more. Like friendly kiss. Okay… Where were we…? Right, exorcists," Allen mumbled quickly, trying to get his mind somewhere else. Deep in his heart he knew; when he looked at Lavi, Allen could be able to see deep longing in that single green eye. All that Allen had to do now was to figure out why. Why indeed?

In the end, Allen got his mitarashi dangos, and loads of them. They were the best ones he had ever had. Allen had also already forgotten about the kiss he shared with Lavi. Or more like, it was only Lavi who kissed. He didn't respond. Allen munched the last dango, looking at Lavi who looked exhausted. "Was I that bad?"

"No, but making those little balls for you is exhausting…" Lavi complained, looking at Allen who devoured everything, "and with your stomach, small portion is not enough."

Allen shrugged his shoulders, swallowing the last dango. "Will you come to Japan?" he asked curiously, after a small moment of silence. The championships were held in Japan after all. "When does your championships start? Were you chosen to the national team?"

"I don't know yet. It's held on May in Belarusian. I will know soon. Don't worry about it," Lavi told Allen with easy-going smile. He knew that he would be one of the players for sure. There was no doubt about it. "And probably I will come to Japan also, with my gramps. He will be your team's personal masseuse. Good luck with that."

Allen shuddered at this information. He had heard gruesome screams from the hockey players' masseuse room every now and then. Bookman was something to be feared. Allen looked at Lavi's face. If Lavi had survived from him, he would too. "And–"

"–aaand you need someone to watch over you when Tyki is around," Lavi added with wide grin. He wouldn't let anyone touch Allen. Allen is mine, Lavi thought possessively. His eyes then widened and he shook his head. No! Stop those thought Lavi Bookman. "You two will be spending a lot of time together now…"

"Jealous?"

"No! Just worried," Lavi beamed at Allen, who had a sly smirk on his face. That wasn't fair. Did he figure it out already? Well, maybe the kiss was just too obvious. But Allen wouldn't toy with him, right? Lavi furrowed his eyebrows in his thoughts.

Allen looked at Lavi's serious face and chuckled. "Come on, that doesn't suit you. I was just kidding."

"Why did I ever chose to be your friend, Allen Walker?" Lavi sighed with amused face.

"Because I'm just like you."

* * *

Before anyone had even realized, it was already the start of October. After Lavi had kissed Allen on that Saturday, things had been awkward whenever they had home tutoring lessons. That's why it was rare if Lavi came over to teach Allen about the history or mathematics. Link came more often too. Lavi stared out of the living room window.

"We grew a lot of distance since that Saturday, Lenalee," Lavi said as he turned around and sat back on to his comfy sofa. Lenalee didn't look pleased at all. "I don't think I should push him about anything," he mumbled, looking back at Allen's house where he could see inside. Link was there again. "I think he's getting new friends."

"I'm not a psychologist," Lenalee sighed, turning his eyes towards Allen's house too. He seemed to be having fun with Link. How could someone have fun with Howard Link? He was so uptight. Link was completely opposite of Lavi. "But you made a mistake, that's for sure. It's been over a month already. Why can't you just go to his house and ask him to watch movies with you again? He is leaving to England too for Christmas. It's not that far anymore, Lavi. You wanted to make him stay, right?"

Lavi sighed and tore his eyes off from the window. It was raining. Autumn made him feel so depressed sometimes. "I don't know what I want anymore, Lenalady. If going to England makes him happy, he should go. It's not like he will stay in Canada forever."

Lenalee screamed in frustration. "Lavi! You don't even know how he is because you don't visit him! You don't even come to see our training anymore. Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe he is missing your company? Do you think Tyki's company is somewhat better?"

"Idiots," Kanda growled when he came to the living room, "that beansprout is better off alone. People like him die young; you shouldn't bother with him, rabbit."

"Don't say that, Kanda," Lenalee scolded Kanda. Sadly she agreed with Kanda. But Allen could be an exception. Allen had changed Lavi, to the core. "Allen is our friend and you're not supposed to say something like that."

Lavi just listened quietly and turned on the television. He also heard Link's car roar. The teacher was leaving. Lavi glanced at the clock on the wall. Allen's three hours of studies had taken six hours today. Lavi didn't even notice it himself, but he was obsessed with Allen. "Did you know that Allen studied six hours with Link today? Six hours and three minutes, actually."

"Oh my god, Lavi! Just go talk with him now," Lenalee moaned and shut the television. Lavi wasn't looking at it anyways. "Ask him to come over here if being alone with him is too much at first. Tell that I ordered him here."

Lavi got up from the sofa with lazy figure. Then he started to walk towards his front door, like a zombie. It didn't take long to reach Allen's house. He knocked Allen's door and shivered from cold. It was raining too hard and now he was dripping water. Luckily Allen was fast to reach his door.

"Lavi?" Allen asked with dumbfound expression. It had been so long since Lavi came to his door without exercise books. Allen quickly recovered from his small shock and pulled Lavi inside. "I'll get you a towel, don't move!" he said as he disappeared to upstairs.

Lavi blinked, and looked around while standing still. He saw Timcanpy sleeping in the kitchen, near his bowl. He had gotten so big. Maybe he was starting to be an adult. When Allen came back, he blushed when the smaller boy started to dry his hair with a towel. He could see Allen's nape when the boy reached for his head. The t-shirt lifted a little. "Thanks Allen… Actually I wanted to ask if you'd like to come over… Movie night or something? Lenalee and Kanda are there too."

"What are you plotting, Lavi?" Allen whispered, taking the towel off so he could see Lavi's emerald eye, "it's been over month since we actually had fun and now you just come here all of sudden and ask me over. Do you pity me? You know, I'm used to being alone."

Lavi was taken back from Allen's questions. It was another long silence between the boys. "I missed you."

Allen was staring Lavi intensively. He was looking even a small hint of lying in his eye, but when Allen didn't find any, he was happily surprised. "Sorry, but I have an appointment with Tyki today evening at training hall. He said it was about our choreography."

"Are you suddenly friends with Tyki?" Lavi asked, closing the small space with him and Allen, "He is something you should watch out for. Remember? He might be one of the–"

"Lavi. Tyki has shown me that he can be a great friend. I don't think he has anything to do with Noah," Allen sighed, resuming to dry Lavi's red hair. He could feel Lavi's body against his. Lavi really missed me, huh, Allen thought quietly. He could also feel his tense body. It wasn't relaxed like usually. "Lavi?"

Lavi gritted his teeth. That was exactly what Tyki was plotting. Tyki got under Allen's skin so easily when he hadn't been around.

Have you ever felt like you would be ready to kill someone for others' safety?

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry. The chapter was again really rushed. I've had bad two weeks and I really haven't felt like writing. Two of my friends were in a car accident and it was hard time for me. Another one is still in hospital, apparently brain-dead. I can't go visit them because I'm currently in Switzerland. I'm coming home to Finland tomorrow though! Yay! Seven weeks of apprenticeship is finally over and I can focus on my holidays. I will be updating more often at home.**

**What do you think? Will Lavi go for Tyki? How are thing going to revolve around Lavi and Allen now that they grew distant after the awkward kiss? Next chapter will be a lot longer and slower paced. Sorry for this.**

**Tschüss (or something like that) in swissgerman!**


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